Himachal CM regrets no mention of state railway projects

Shimla, Feb 24 (UNI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today welcomed the Railway Budget but at the same time expressed concern over no mention of railway projects in Himachal Pradesh.

Reacting to the Budget, he said that during the visit of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to the state last year, he had announced the Bhanupalli-Bilaspur railway line to be constructed as a national project.The Prime Minister had also promised to complete the Nangal-Talwara railway line in two years besides connecting the Baddi industrial area with Chandigarh through broad gauge railway lines,he pointed.

However none of these projects found any mention in the Budget Estimates, he lamented. He said that the state has the same railway network as it was during the pre-independence era and only one new railway line Nangal-Talwara was provided to Himachal which is under construction but at a very low pace.

The Chief Minister added that these projects would be taken up at the appropriate level to provide Himachal Pradesh its due share of railway expansion so that people of the state were also benefited from the railway network expansion.

UNI XC-HS PG KP1923