Indian Railways seeks quicker land acquisition for stalled projects

Zonal Railways asked to designate more works as special projects for quicker clearance

Slow pace of land acquisition for projects despite provisions for quicker clearance has put the Indian Railways in a spot.

The newly-formed Gati-Shakti division of the railways has raised the issue of general managers (GMs) of zonal railways stalling important infrastructure projects. This is being done by not designating projects involving land acquisition as special projects.

The national transporter has written to all its zonal railway divisions, asking them to strictly adhere to the special railway project (SRP) provision.

This allows GMs to designate projects as “special” and create a joint account for payment of land dues. Here, financial sanctions