Chandrababu Naidu orders quick completion of railway projects in Andhra

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu chaired a meeting at the state secretariat in Amaravathi on Tuesday with the railway and the state officials on land acquisition, ongoing railway line works and economic needs and reviewed progress of ongoing work.

In Short

• Centre earmarks railway projects worth Rs 72,000 crore in Andhra Pradesh
• Chandrababu Naidu promises necessary steps to complete land acquisition
• Naidu blames previous government for delay in railway projects

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday directed officials to complete all the ongoing work on various railway projects in the state at the earliest.

Pointing out the assurance given by the Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav to the state that the government was ready to take up railway project works worth Rs 72,000 crore, the Chief Minister told the officials to accordingly take up such projects and complete them at a rapid pace, a statement said.

Chairing a review meeting at the state secretariat in Amaravathi on Tuesday with the railway and the state officials on land acquisition, ongoing railway line works and the economic needs, Naidu discussed the progress of all the ongoing works, it added.

State Minister BC Janardhan Reddy, officials of the railway department and various wings of the state government attended the meeting.

Seeking details as to why certain works were getting delayed, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief shared suggestions for early completion of such projects.

Expressing concern that all the projects did not move forward due to the policies adopted by the previous government, Naidu told the officials to immediately initiate steps to complete all projects on time and said that all necessary measures should be taken to resolve the issues hindering land acquisition.

Chandrababu Naidu decided to form a task force with officials from the railway, revenue and roads and buildings (R&B) departments for the early completion of the projects and to resolve the issues pertaining to land acquisition.

He expressed hope that the Kotipalli-Narsapur railway line will be completed within four months and gave his consent to immediately release Rs 20 crore for acquiring 11 acres on Nadikudi-Srikalahasti railway line and ordered the officials to immediately take up the Sattupalli-Kovvur line after completing the land acquisition process.

Chandrababu Naidu said that a decision should be taken on Kadapa-Bengaluru railway line after detailed discussion, since there are some changes made to its alignment, and added that all the ongoing railway project works should be completed in three years while the doubling works should be over in four years.

"Better results can be achieved if the project works are completed by interlinking the road, rail and air networks", he said.