नवीनतम
Railways takes steps to provided direct connectivity in Tribal areas
MUMBAI [Maha Media]: In a bid to provide better rail connectivity for improving economic and social development of tribal dominated areas, the railway ministry is going to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for surveying 380 kilometres of route, which will directly connect Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, and will provide benefits to six cities.
In fact, this route will be the shortest route connecting the Mumbai-Delhi main route to Dahod from the Tapti section.
Informing about the approval, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said tribal dominated Banswara has natural connectivity with Dahod. Therefore, it has been decided to prepare a detailed project report of the Neemuch-Banswara-Dahod rail line along with the Dungarpur-Banswara-Ratlam project, which will provide a new route for trains going from Delhi to Mumbai through tribal dominated Banswara. The Ministry has approved the preparation of a DPR for the final survey for the 380 km long Neemuch-Banswara-Dahod-Nandurbar new line.
“This route will be the shortest route connecting the Mumbai-Delhi main route to Dahod from the Tapti section. This will benefit six cities in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat. Shahada city can also be included in this route for survey, as the population of this city is more than 50 thousand,” he further stated.
Banswara district of Rajasthan is a hilly area rich in mineral wealth, but is not yet connected to Indian Railways. Minerals like manganese ore, dolomite, limestone, gold, copper, and quartzite are found in abundance in this area. Therefore, there is also a strong possibility of freight traffic from the area, which will be transported through the short route of Neemuch-Banswara-Dahod, the ministry officials pointed out.
At the same time, Dahod-Alirajpur-Nandurbar is located in a hilly and tribal area. This will be a short route connecting the high-density network Mumbai-New Delhi main route in Dahod from the Tapti rail section. The route will also uplift the people deprived of the mainstream of development and connect them to the rest of the country through rail.
“This new railway route will also boost tourism in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Along with this, employment opportunities will also be created at the local level,” the ministry said. has approved the preparation of a detailed project report for the final survey for the 380 km long Neemuch-Banswara-Dahod-Nandurbar new line.
“The railway projects are sanctioned on the basis of remunerativeness, traffic projections, last mile connectivity, missing links and alternate routes, augmentation of congested/saturated lines, demands raised by State governments, Central Ministries, Members of Parliament, other public representatives, Railway’s own operational requirement, and socio-economic considerations depending upon throw forward of ongoing projects and overall availability of funds,” Railway Minister, Vaishnaw informed the Rajya Sabha.
“As on April 1, 2025, 26 projects (6 New Lines and 20 Doubling), covering total length of 1,931 km length, costing Rs 31,619 crore, falling fully and partly in the state of Chhattisgarh, are at various stages of planning and implementation, out of which 1023 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs16,325 crore has been incurred upto March 2025,” he added.
