- A ₹1,542 crore, 83km railway line between Tarakeswar and Bishnupur not commissioned for land unavailability.
- A ₹1,209 crore, 30km line between Balurghat and Hili stalled for seven years for want of 88 hectares.
- The 18km Noapara-Barasat Metro extension frozen because work on a 7.5km stretch between New Barrackpore and Barasat is held up indefinitely for want of 23,000sqm land.
These three projects exemplify how the previous Trinamool government’s hands-off land policy stymied major railway projects in Bengal, sources said.
Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, with railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw by his side at Nabanna on Saturday, said his government would strive to provide land so that all the 61 pending railway projects in Bengal, together worth ₹1 lakh crore, can be implemented at the earliest.
“All the DMs connected to this programme (through videoconferencing) should take note that we will give land and all required assistance to implement railway projects in the state,” Suvendu said.
He cited how his government had begun providing land to the BSF for fencing the Bangladesh border.
Senior railway and state government officials, as well as several MLAs, discussed proposals for railway projects in the state at the event.
“The DMs should prepare a calendar and a plan mentioning the timeframe for providing land for each project,” Suvendu said.
Vaishnaw said the Trinamool government’s obstructionism had halted the Metro line through Chingrighata for 18 months.
“The Centre tried hard to complete projects here, but the state government resisted. If land is provided and other required assistance extended, it’s possible to implement projects worth ₹1 lakh crore in the state soon,” he said.
Suvendu explained the importance of the stalled railway projects for the state. “These (61 pending railway projects) are important because they will help many districts get rail connectivity,” he said.
Suvendu added: “Areas like Lalgarh, Gopiballavpur and Nayagram in Jungle Mahal and areas like Nandigram in East Midnapore, Hili in South Dinajpur and Sagar in South 24-Parganas will get rail connectivity through theseprojects.”
Providing railway connectivity to backward regions helps boost local economies.
The Suvendu government has set up a cell at Nabanna to implement railway projects.
“This cell is coordinating between the districts and the railways to ensure that land can be arranged at the earliest and all other assistance extended,” chief secretary Manoj Agarwal said.
Senior state officials said it would not be difficult to arrange land for the railwayprojects.
Although the state is yet to adopt the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, land can be acquired for railway projects by invoking the Railways Act, 1989.
Funds would not be a problem, either, as the railways shoulder 100 per cent of the expenditure required for land acquisition.
This is also the ideal time for the new government, which is in its honeymoon period, to go for land acquisition in the land-critical state.
“The previous government did not try to acquire land because of its hands-off land policy and its political opposition to land acquisition,” a source said.
“It was Trinamool’s anti-land-acquisition movement that helped it dislodge the Left from power in 2011. This government has no such baggage.”
Besides, land acquisition is unlikely to trigger much political opposition as the new government is widely believed to have won a mandate to make investments and implement projects that will boost the economy and create jobs after a 15-year stalemate, sources said.
The new government has already shown its intent by clearing 40 proposals for constructing railway overbridges across the state. The previous government had withheld the no-objection certificates for these projects for two years.
Suvendu signalled that he expected railway ministry investments to create jobs.
“I will request you to look into expanding the railway workshops in the state,” he told Vaishnaw.
“Setting up new railway manufacturing units in Bengal will also help the state,” he added, underscoring how “educated youths and lakhs of people have migrated to other states in search of jobs”.