In a mega boost to the Indian Railways, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually lay the foundation stone for the redevelopment of 508 railway stations across the country. Of these, 55 are from poll-bound Rajasthan and the largest state Uttar Pradesh.
The prime minister will also be laying the foundation for 34 stations in Madhya Pradesh and 21 in Telangana – both of which are soon going to polls – as well as 49 stations in Bihar and 44 in Maharashtra. Jammu and Kashmir will have three stations under the redevelopment scheme with Budgam, Jammu Tawi and Udhampur on the list.
Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will also virtually be present while central ministers, chief ministers, deputy chief ministers, local MPs and MLAs have been physically invited to the programme at different stations on Sunday (August 6).
The scheme, entailing an investment of more than Rs 20,000 crore, is expected to be a record in itself for the number of participants. ‘India’s lifeline, railways and India’ is a nationwide contest organised by the rail ministry in schools. Over 1,597 schools, with 1.64 lakh students have taken part in the competition. Students had to submit entries of creative art, including painting and essay competition as well as elocution.
“We are expecting over 2 lakh students to participate in the event on that day. Prizes will be given to students in their individual states in the presence of dignitaries,” a senior official told News18.
“The cost of redevelopment of Khajuraho Junction, railway station in the Jhansi division, will be at a cost of Rs 260 crore. From Rajasthan, Jodhpur railway station will be redeveloped at a cost of Rs 494 crore. The Hyderabad station in the Secunderabad division will be reconstructed at a cost of Rs 309 crore. The cost of redeveloping Prayagraj Junction in Uttar Pradesh is estimated to be a whopping Rs 960 crore,” official sources said.
What is ‘Amrit Bharat Station Scheme’?
The Amrit Bharat Station Scheme has recently been launched for the development of railway stations. This scheme envisages development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach.
It involves preparation of master plans and their implementation in phases to improve amenities at railway stations like improvement of access, circulating areas, waiting halls, toilets, lifts or escalators as necessary, cleanliness, free WiFi, kiosks for local products through schemes like ‘One Station One Product’, better passenger information systems, executive lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping among others.
The scheme also envisages improvement of building, integrating the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, amenities for the differently abled, sustainable and environment-friendly solutions, provision of ballastless tracks, roof plazas, and creation of city centres for the long term.
At present, the scheme will be taking up 1,309 stations for modernisation. The stations have been selected based on the proposals received from zonal railways and stations located in major cities and towns. Budgetary funds are being used for developing stations under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. But a miniscule number of stations are also being explored for development under public private partnership (PPP) model.
Modernisation of stations is an ongoing and continuous process and works in this regard are undertaken as per requirement, subject to priority and availability of funds. The priority for upgrade or modernisation is accorded to higher category of stations over lower category while sanctioning and executing the work. The railway projects are sanctioned as per zones and not by state or constituency or region as the projects may span across state boundaries.
Of the 1,309 railway stations identified under the scheme, 72 from Andhra Pradesh, 92 from Bihar, 126 from Maharashtra, 83 from Rajasthan, 87 from Gujarat and 70 from Uttar Pradesh have been identified for redevelopment.
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