Indian Railways projects in Varanasi: Whopping amount involved revealed

The Indian Railways has ongoing projects worth over Rs 4,500 crore in Varanasi, the government informed Parliament today. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain said while projects worth Rs 3938.78 crore were currently underway and will cater to areas near the city, projects worth Rs 616.91 crore were being implemented in the municipal limits of Varanasi.

These have been included in the budget, he said. The Uttar Pradesh city of Varanasi is the Parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The minister listed the various projects being undertaken by the Railways, including a third line between Varanasi and Mughalsarai with a sub structure of two lines on the 16.72km Maliya Bridge. This is a new project included in budget 2017-18 and costs Rs 2005 crore, Gohain said.

Work on 17 foot-over-bridges across rail stations, worth Rs 14 crore, was in progress in the Varanasi division while earth ridge work and ballast supply were underway in the 122km Varanasi-Madhosingh-Allahabad stretch at a cost of Rs 750.56 crore. A major thrust of the railways would be on remodelling of yards, construction of new platforms, beautification, augmentation of passenger amenities such as waiting halls and approach roads at a total cost of Rs 560 crore.

A sum of Rs 57 crore has also been earmarked for six stations - Amritsar, Haridwar, Raebareli, Varanasi, Kurukshetra and Delhi Safdurjung, which will be developed in association with the Ministry of Tourism, Gohain said. Since the advent of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre in May 2014, Uttar Pradesh has seen a growth of 593 per cent in its Railway budget allocation from an average of Rs 1,109 crore between 2009 and 2014 to a total outlay of Rs 7,685 crore in 2018-19.