Chhattisgarh CM demands more rail infra

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh has demanded four new trains and survey of five new railway routes in the state.

Dr Singh wrote a letter to the Railway Minister, Mamata Banerjee, seeking more rail infrastructure for the state. The Chief Minister had urged the Union Minister to include the proposals of the state in the Rail Budget, proposed to be presented on July 3.

The four new trains that the state had demanded include Durg-Bilaspur-Jammu, Durg-Guwahati, Ambikapur-Bilaspur Intercity Express and a superfast train from Bilaspur to Thiruvananthapuram, state government officials said here today.

The state government had also sought new rail lines in the northern part of the state to facilitate transportation of coal from the mineral rich pocket. Besides Raigarh-Mad-Gharghora-Tamnaar, Dr Singh has urged the Railway Minister to conduct survey for laying new rail lines between Ambikapur and Barwadih (Jharkhand), Korba-Katghora-Pendra, and Dongargarh-Kawardha-Mungeli-Takhatpur.

The Chief Minister has also demanded conversion of Raipur- Dhamtari narrow-gauge line into broad gauge and to conduct survey of extending the line upto Dallirajharra-Jagdalpur line to enable easy transportation of iron-ore from the Rowghat mines.

Sources said Dr Singh wanted to hand over the proposals to the Railway Minister during his recent New Delhi visit. But since Mamata Banerjee was in Kolkata, the meeting could not take place.

The state government had pointed out that the Bilaspur zone of Railway in Chhattisgarh was generating maximum revenue for the railways. Despite this, the region remained neglected in the rail infrastructure.

Dr Singh has also urged to sanction new railway station for the proposed new capital of Chhattisgarh.