Naik seeks Rs 1200 cr for Mumbai suburban rail

NEW DELHI: Cautioning that modernisation of the Mumbai Suburban railway could be in jeopardy due to paucity of funds, a railway commuters conference has sought Rs
1200 crore allocation for the purpose from the Rail budget for 2007-08.

"Besides the planned addition of 110 rakes (nine rail coaches to a rake) for the Mumbai Suburban Rail, the new projects are also required to be completed as part of the
modernisation of one of the largest railway network", the President of the Conference and former Union Minister Ram Naik told media.

Naik said out of the Rs 2,400 crore expenditure required now for the purpose, the state and the Centre will share 50 per cent and the central government would have to allocate Rs 1,200 crore for completing the projects.

Nearly 40 per cent of the modernisation work of the Mumbai Railway Suburban, which carries 65 lakh passengers daily, has been completed, he said.

Naik, a former Union Railway Minister, said the number of passengers using the Mumbai Suburban Railway has increased manifold and had resulted in 3991 deaths as a result of overcrowding. This worked out to 11 deaths daily last year, he said.

The former minister and senior BJP leader said this was more than the 3843 casualties suffered by India during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war.

Naik said it was still possible to allocate the required amount from the Rail budget since major allocations can be made even two days before the announcement of the budget though this had to be cleared by the Cabinet.