Jharkhand to raise special forces to complete railway projects

Jharkhand government has decided to mobilise special police forces in the Naxal-infested areas where the railway projects were stalled because of the rebels.

After the constitution of Jharkhand in November 2000, the first chief minister Babulal Marandi had signed a MoU with the railway ministry in February 2002 for construction of six railway projects at an estimated cost of Rs 1,997 crore, scheduled to be completed by 2007.

When the MoU was signed, the railway ministry had agreed to provide two-third of the total cost to be spent on the projects in Jharkhand.

Thereafter, dispute started over the share of contribution by the state and the railways when Marandi resigned to join the Union cabinet.

In February 2008, NDA-led Arjun Munda government decided in a meeting with the railway ministry that the budget amount for the projects would be shared equally between the state and the railways.

As the state government could not hand over the required land for the projects, construction works were delayed by 3 years and the project cost went up by 21 per cent with total amount exceeding Rs 3,292 crore from Rs 1,997 crore.

Subsequently, Arjun Munda government extended the period of the MoU by five years for completing six railway projects, Ranchi-Hazaribagh-Koderma, Koderma-Giridih, Deoghar-Dumka, Dumka-Rampurhat, Koderma-Tilaiy and the remaining 30km of the Lohardaga-Tori rail link.

According to a senior police official, Naxal rebels torched valuable equipment of contractors engaged in laying the new line between Barkichampi and Tori in May this year.

On three occasions, the Naxals abducted workers engaged in laying tracks on this section.