Land shortage hampers Railway projects in Bengal: Centre

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has written to his predecessor, and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, stating that most of the railway infrastructure projects, either fully or partially located within the state, are not progressing due to the unavailability of the necessary land. This is despite the fact that railway projects amounting to Rs. 50,915 crore have been sanctioned and are currently underway in various parts of the state.
“Railways had initiated efforts for the acquisition of land for most of the sanctioned railway projects but could not succeed in acquitting land for these projects. Consequently, the remaining sanctioned railway projects in the State could not be taken forward,” reads the letter.
The budgetary allocations for railway projects in West Bengal for the financial year 2023-24 was Rs.11,970 crore, which is the highest allocation among all States, Vaishnaw had told reporters in February this year.
Further, in the letter, the Railway Ministry has requested the West Bengal Government to initiate intervention in the procurement of land required for the completion of the pending projects.
“I would request you to issue suitable instructions to the concerned officers to expedite the process of land acquisition so that execution of the projects may be taken up,” Vaishnaw wrote.
With Lok Sabha elections due to take place a few months from now in which the Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to be the main challenger to the Trinamool Congress, and the Trinamool is expected to highlight how the BJP at the Centre is acting in a step-motherly manner against Bengal, the letter is being seen as a step for the Centre to proactively defend its position.
The issue triggered a political row with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing the ruling Trinamool Congress of “deliberately stalling railway projects” ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said: “This (Trinamool-led) Government has no focus on development. They don’t want the railway projects to get going. They don’t know how to work for the people and stand beside them. Their only focus is vote bank and that’s why they are playing politics.”
The TMC has hit back saying that the West Bengal Government is aware of what people need and how to best work for them.
“Banerjee has been the Union Railway Minister earlier and the State got some of the best projects during her tenure. So, the BJP’s Railway Minister need not teach her what’s best for railway projects in West Bengal,” said TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh.
CPI(M) Politburo member Md. Selim said: “Most of the stalled projects are in south Bengal. By not facilitating the acquisition of land, Mamata knows she can spin two stories. One, that she will not take any step that will harm the people.
And the second is that she will be able to tell her vote-bank in south Bengal that the BJP Government at the Centre is not serious about extending its service to their areas. This will help her in consolidating the minority votes in these far-flung areas which need good railway connectivity
desperately.