Maharashtra: Prioritise work on acquired lands, PAC to govt

Pointing to incomplete Railway projects in Maharashtra, the state legislature's public accounts committee (PAC) has asked the Centre and the state to prioritise works on lines on which land has already been acquired.

In its report submitted to the state legislature during the ongoing monsoon session, the PAC, which is headed by senior Congress MLA Gopaldas Agarwal, has urged the state government to follow up with the Union government to complete works on eight pending railway routes. These include: Ahmednagar-Beed-Parli (261km), Wardha-Yavatmal-Nanded (284 km), Wadsa-Desaiganj-Gadchiroli (49.5km), Adilabad-Gadchandur (59km), Karad-Chiplun (111.5km), Pune-Nashik (265km), Manmad-Dhule-Indore (350km) and Nagpur-Nagbhid (106.15km). All of them are broad-gauge lines.

"The central government and the state government must make joint efforts to immediately complete these incomplete projects. While deciding the priority, precedence must be given to those projects on which land has already been acquired and funds are available. The committee's recommendation is that while doing this, regional balance must be maintained," the report said.

The state government will fund around 40 to 50% costs of these eight railway projects and of these, five have been approved by the Railway ministry and three are awaiting approval. The Ahmednagar- Beed-Parli project was approved in the 2009-10 financial year with an original cost of Rs1,010 crore, which has now risen to Rs2,826 crore. The approvals were granted to other projects in 2009-0 (Wardha-Yavatmal-Nanded, Adilabad-Gadchandur, Manmad-Dhule-Indore), 2010-11 (Wadsa-Desaiganj-Gadchiroli) and the Karad-Chiplun, Pune-Nashik and Nagpur-Nagbhid routes (gauge broadening) were approved in 2012-13.

The report noted that while the railway ministry had said that while the Ahmednagar-Beed-Parli route will be completed by 2019-20, it was yet to come forth with the deadlines for the Wardha-Yavatmal-Nanded, Wadsa-Desaiganj-Gadchiroli projects. Just 30% of the land for the Wardha-Yavatmal-Nanded railway line has been acquired.

"Of these projects, some are pending due to lack of consents from the state government and funds. For some projects, the state government has given some more funds than the railways. Just one project has seen the Centre giving slightly more funding than the state," it added, stating that there must be a follow up with the Union government to complete works on these pending projects.

The Ahmednagar-Beed-Parli line is a pet project of the BJP and is a 50-50% joint venture between the railways and the state government. Both the state government and the railway ministry have pinned high hopes on the project, as the ruling BJP's trump card in Marathwada and Western Maharashtra, the two regions the rail line will connect.

As reported earlier by dna, the state and Centre want the Ahmednagar-Parli line to be completed by March 2019 so that it can be showcased for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections to be held that year. On May 27 last year, prime minister Narendra Modi had reviewed the project on the PRAGATI platform wherein it was decided to speed up land acquisition and railway work on the stretch.


Name of the project – km – Original project cost

Ahmednagar-Beed-Parli – 261km – Rs1,010 crore

Wardha-Yavatmal-Nanded –284 km – Rs2,501 crore

Wadsa-Desaiganj-Gadchiroli –49.5km –Rs469.27 crore

Adilabad-Gadchandur –59km –Rs482 crore

Karad-Chiplun –111.5km –Rs928 crore

Pune-Nashik – 265km –Rs1,899.64 crore

Manmad-Dhule-Indore –350km –Rs2,256 crore

Nagpur-Nagbhid – 106.15km – Rs376.21 crore