Goa urged to expedite aid for early completion of Rly. projects.

Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu has urged Goa Chief Minister and State officials to expedite assistance to Railways for early completion of on-going projects in the State.

Mr. Prabhu and Chief Minister Lakshmikant Parsekar presided over a coordination meeting on Monday at the State Secretariat between officials of Goa government and South Western Railway (SWR) and Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) where progress of railway projects in Goa was reviewed.

The projects of track doubling from Madgaon to Kulem, road overbridge at LC nos. 17, 19 and 25 are the ongoing projects of South Western Railways in Goa. Apart from this, five road overbridges have to be constructed on the Konkan Railway line in Goa.

The Minister also sought early assistance for acquisition of land required for doubling and road overbridges. The Chief Minister instructed the State officials accordingly.

General Manager of South Western Railway A.K. Gupta, Goa Chief Secretary R.K. Srivastava and Chairman and Managing Director of KRCL Sanjay Gupta attended the meeting.

A 50-km stretch falling between Kulem and Madgaon under the doubling project between Hosapete-Hubballi-Londa-Vasco-da-gama is one of the projects that would enhance line capacity greatly.

Track doubling work is to start initially on the 35 km Kulem-Madgaon stretch in Goa. At present, due to constraints in the Castlerock-Kulem ghat section, the single line is saturated.

Once line capacity is enhanced by doubling, more passenger and freight trains can be run which will not only increase revenue but also improve connectivity between Goa and the northern region of Karnataka.

This will also result in improving economies of both States.

The project, among others, is expected to enhance traffic to ports in Goa and in movement of goods between the two States.

THE HINDU