No work on Paniyahawa -Tamkuhi Road new rail link until further order

Speed Post News Network

Bagaha  : The construction work on Paniyahawa -Tamkuhi Road (via Madhubani) new rail link located on Bihar-Uttar Pradesh border, a long cherished demand of the  region, will remain in abeyance until further order from the Railway Ministry. The construction work on the project was stopped on September 24, 2019. The Railway board has postponed the work because of slow pace of the project.

Mukesh Kumar Gupta, a Railways Board officer, Delhi, in a communication to General  Manager, North Eastern Railway (NER),  Gorakhpur, Rajiv Agarwal, on September 24, 2019, said that no further expenditure would be incurred on six rail  projects including “Paniyahawa -Tamkuhi Road new rail line” until further order. On the basis of this letter, Deputy Chief Engineer  of the new rail line construction on September 28, 2019, asked the  contractors concerned to stop the works awarded to them until further order.

The Railway Board, in its letter, cited non-acquisition of land, local resistance, encroachment on acquired land, and other hurdles as reasons to keep the project in abeyance. The work is to be carried on only those projects which are in advanced stage of construction and are crucial for railways. The foundation of Paniyahawa -Tamkuhi road rail project, a 62.5 km long project, was laid in 2007 at an estimated cost of around Rs 269.78 crore of which Rs 103.31 crore had already been spent on it, according to railway sources.

Meanwhile, JD(U) MP from Valmikinagar in West Champaran District in North Bihar Baidyanath Mahto and the Kushinagar (UP) MP Vijay  Kumar  Dubey  have  separately  requested Railway Minister Piyush Goyal not to postpone the work on the project as the area was lagging behind on development front.