Shimla, Oct 24 (PTI) The Himachal Pradesh government would build the Bhanupali-Bilaspur-Beri-Leh railway line only up to Bilaspur and urge the Centre to declare the line beyond that point a strategically important project from defence point of view with 100 per cent funding, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said on Thursday.
Initially, the cost for the 63.1 km Bhanupali-Bilaspur-Beri railway line was estimated at Rs 1,047 crore to be shared by the state and the Indian Railways in a ratio of 25:75 with a share of Rs 261 crore and 785 crore, respectively. Later, the Union government altered the terms and capped the Central funding for land acquisition at Rs 70 crore with the remaining cost to be borne by the state, Agnihotri, who also holds the transport portfolio, told reporters here.
The total cost of the project is likely to go up to Rs 10,000 crore with Himachal’s share increasing by 18 times to Rs 4,000 crore, he said, adding that the cost for land acquisition for the 11 km stretch from Bilaspur to Beri would amount to Rs 1,400 crore while the construction cost would be Rs 2,000 crore.
The state government has released Rs 847 crore for the Bhanupali-Bilaspur stretch including Rs 511 crore released by the previous BJP government and Rs 336 crore by the present Congress government, Agnihotri said.
He also said the 28.2 km long Chandigarh-Baddi railway line with 24.8 km falling in Haryana and 3.4 km in Himachal Pradesh would be constructed at a cost of Rs 1,540 crore to be shared equally by the state government and the Indian Railways for which the former has so far released Rs 412 crore while Rs 63 crore would be released in November.
Accusing the opposition leaders of indulging in lies and false propaganda to sabotage or delay the development projects in the state, Agnihotri asserted that the 50 per cent concession for women in Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses has not been withdrawn while the passengers can carry luggage weighing up to 40 Kg.
Calling the insinuations of BJP leaders that fare would be charged even for purses and school bags as ridiculous, he said fare would be charged for sending articles, consignments and other goods on the basis of their weight.
Claiming that HRTC has shown remarkable improvement in spite of the concessions in 28 categories costing the state exchequer Rs 50 lakh annually, Agnihotri said tender has been floated for the purchase of 327 electric buses while 250 diesel buses would be purchased for the tribal areas.
The 3,200-strong bus fleet of HRTC carries five lakh passengers daily despite incurring losses in some areas to serve the people of the state, Agnihotri said.
The government is giving the HRTC a grant of Rs 150 crore for these services besides proposing to replace 24 Volvo buses, and discard eight-year old buses and those which have already covered a distance 9 lakh km, he added.
Also, a system to track the movement of buses would be put in place soon which would greatly benefit the passengers, he said. PTI BPL ARI
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