Jai Ram demands expansion of rail lines in Himachal
Himachal government for long had been demanding the Centre to expand this stretch to further extend it to strategic forward region of Leh
Himachal chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday met Union railways minister Ashwini Vaishnav in New Delhi and discussed ways for rail line expansion in the state.
Union minister for sports and information and broadcasting Anurag Thakur was also present in the meeting. He asked the government to accelerate work on the Bhanupali-Bilaspur railway line. Himachal government for long had been demanding the Centre to expand this stretch to further extend it to strategic forward region of Leh. He said that the full-length railway survey has been completed.
Jai Ram urged the Union minister to start work on the Baddi-Chandigarh railway line as well. He said the land acquisition work on the side of Himachal Pradesh has already been completed. “This would be helpful in connecting the Baddi-Amritsar-Kolkata corridor and boost industrial activities in the industrial belt of the state,” he added. He further requested for conducting a survey on the Jagadhri-Paonta Sahib railway line which would help in connecting Kala Amb industrial area to the Baddi-Amritsar-Kolkata corridor.
He also urged the Railways minister for upgrading the Kalka-Shimla railway track to accelerate the speed of the train. Jai Ram asked the Union minister to replace the coaches of the Shimla-Kalka train as well.
He suggested introducing state of art train on the Kalka-Shimla route to boost tourism and showcase the heritage of the state to attract more tourists.
Anurag also urged for early action on the Una-Hamirpur railway line.
Jai Ram later called on health and family welfare minister Mansukh Mandaviya and urged him to sanction 50 ambulances to reduce the response time within prescribed limits in hilly terrain. He also apprised the Union minister of the shortage of ASHAs in the state and requested for 58 such workers under NUHM and 176 in non-NUHM components for quality outreach in comprehensive primary healthcare in urban areas of the state.
Jai Ram also requested for granting bulk drug park for the state which would strengthen the industrialisation.
The CM met Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman too and requested her to provide special central assistance to the state. He also requested Sitharaman for providing special central assistance for Mandi airport.