News Detail

• Railway minister Dinesh Trivedi's decision to hike the passenger and other fares has left both along with his own party chief and the commuters across the board seeing red.red faced However, the minister is being hailed by the people in Malegaon, Dhule and the neighbouring towns- where the mood is ecstatic after he approved the Manmad-Indore railway lines via Malegaon and Dhule in the 2012 Railway Budget.The project, shared by the Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh state governments after the railway ministry's approval, has been sent to the Planning Commission for its 'in principle' approval. Though it might still take years before these trains actually start running,on the new route the euphoria in the region is remarkable. The most pleased after the announcement is Dhule legislator, Anil Gote.

• "It's good that the railway ministry has finally realized the positive impact this project will have not only on the overall development of the 360-km stretch the railway line will cover, but also on its own kitty," said AnilGote, who had led an all-party and massive campaign in 2007 demanding the approval of the railway line, says while speaking to the TOI after the railway budget.

• The demand for the Manmad-Indore railway line is not new. The first ever survey for this railway route, which is supposed to pass through Malegaon, Dhule, Nerdana, Shirpur and Mahu before culminating at Indore, was done long before the independence in 1908. However, professor A Majeed Siddiqui claims that due to the 'strong resistance' the colonial forces had received in Malegaon, the city could not win the favour of the British government. The situation for the region remained more or less the same even after the independence. "Also, because most of the people on this 360-km long stretch are backward, the successive governments turned down their demands terming the project non-profitable," professor Siddiqui observes.

• In between, the Demands for this rail line were raised within regular intervals. But it was Gote who revived the efforts in November-December 2007. Following the strong demand and blocked of Mumbai-Agra Road on December 12, 2007, a fresh survey was ordered by the railway ministry under Lalu Prasad Yadav According to Gote, the findings of the survey showed that if the new railway route actually takes the shape, Delhi-Mumbai rail distance would be reduced by 140kms, Indore-Mumbai distance would come down from 830kms to 580kms, and travelling from Jammu to Kanyakumari by Jammu Tawai Express will be shortened by 682kms. "Besides this, the survey report also showed that the rate of return is 22% and within three years the entire project cost would be recovered," he informs TOI.

• Gote also feels that the project will be approved by the Planning Commission on priority basis as it has become more essential now because of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. "Thousands of acres of land acquired for the purpose are on this route. Starting the train here will certainly be an added advantage for the upcoming industries," he adds.

Source