Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday while virtually inaugurating the ”New Bhaupur-New Khurja” section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor expressed his disappointment at the previous governments for delaying the project of the Railways and said his government was engaged with stakeholders to speed up the work.
The Eastern Dedicated freight corridor which was granted permission in 2006 was only on paper as the then government lacked the seriousness and urgency with which it had to take it up with the states, he said.
“Till 2014 not a single km track of the project was laid and the funds sanctioned could not be spent properly. After 2014, it was restarted and officials asked to take it forward and by then the budget had gone went up 11 times,”
~ Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India
Along with the inauguration of the New Bhaupur-New Khurja section, Modi also inaugurated the EDFC’s operation centre at Prayagraj and flagged off the first 1.5 km long goods trains.
The prime minister said that on coming to power, he personally monitored the project and held a dialogue with the stakeholders and got new technology as a result of which about 1100 km work will be completed in next few months.
“Imagine not a single km in eight years and 1100 km in 6 years,” the prime minister expressed his disapproval.
The section inaugurated by the Prime Minister today will decongest the existing Kanpur-Delhi mainline and will enable the Indian Railways to run faster trains. Also, it will open new vistas of opportunity for local industries such as aluminium industry, dairy sector, textile production and block printing, glassware industry, pottery products, asafoetida or ”hing” production, and locks and hardware.
The 1856 km- long EDFC which starts from Sahnewal near Ludhiana in Punjab and passes through the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand to terminate at Dankuni in West Bengal is being constructed by Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL).
