Jaito, December 6:- The Ferozepur Railway Division of Northern Railways said in a press release on Saturday that) the Railways has decided to resume work on the long-pending 40 km long Qadian-Beas rail line. Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu has directed the officials to “defreeze” the project.
Earlier, the project was put in the “frozen” category due to coordination challenges, obstacles in land acquisition and local level political complications. In the language of Railways, “frozen” a project means putting it in a cold bag, because it is not possible to proceed due to various reasons. “Defreezing” means reviving the project—work starts again after removing all the obstacles.
Bittu said that our honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji, Home Minister Shri Amit Shah Ji and Railway Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnav Ji have already made it clear that there is no dearth of money for railway projects in Punjab. I am also constantly engaged in starting new projects, completing pending projects and reviving projects that were closed due to unforeseen reasons.
Mohali-Rajpura, Ferozepur-Patti and now Qadian-Beas—I knew full well how important this line is. That is why I have instructed the officials to remove all obstacles and resume construction work. This new rail line will give a big boost to the struggling industrial units of Batala, known as the “Steel City” of the region.
The letter issued by the Chief Administrative Officer (Construction) of Northern Railways said that “The Railway Board desires that the Qadian-Beas line be defrozen and the detailed estimate be resubmitted and approved at the earliest so that the construction work can be started.” The project has a long history—it was first approved by the British government in 1929 and the North-Western Railway started work.
By 1932, about one-third of the work was completed, but the project was suddenly stopped. The Railways had given it the status of a “socially desirable project” and included it in the 2010 Railway Budget. But work was once again halted due to financial concerns raised by the Planning Commission. Under the “socially desirable projects” category, the Railways focuses on inclusive development, which involves providing affordable and accessible transport services despite projects that do not generate revenue.