Plea for rly HQ at Bhagalpur gets shriller
Kumar Rajesh,TNN | Feb 24, 2015, 02.17 AM IST
BHAGALPUR: Peoples' representatives, including Bhagalpur MP Shailesh Kumar alias Bulo Mandal and Banka MP Jai Prakash Narain Yadav, former Bhagalpur mayor Kehkeshan Parween and BJP national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain have demanded creation of Bhagalpur railway division in the 2015 railway budget.
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banner of 'Eastern Railway Rail Yatri Sangh' have also threatened to block roads and stage dharnas on railway tracks passing through the Bhagalpur railway section if the long-pending demand of residents of Bhagalpur and adjoining areas is not fulfilled. The demand is as old as the establishment of Eastern Railways zone with HQ in Kolkata in 1952. Bhagalpur currently falls under the Malda (West Bengal) railway division.
Bhagalpur is in fact the highest revenue-earning railway station in the Malda division. The then railway minister, Lalu Prasad, laid the foundation stone of the railway division at Bhagalpur on March 1, 2009. Prasad had the announced the railways would spend Rs 2 crore on the project. An officer-on-special duty was also posted to look after the development works related to the proposed railway division.
But after Lalu exited from the railway ministry and the portfolio went to Trinamool Congress MP between May 2009 and September 2012, Lalu's move came to a standstill. The officials posted for the purpose were also withdrawn.
Popular hope was rekindled when the then minister of state for railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary visited Bhagalpur in December 2012 and announced the Bhagalpur division would become a reality as envisaged by then railway minister Lalu Prasad. Chowdhary also announced introduction of a 'Rajdhani Express' train between New Delhi and Guwahati via Bhagalpur during his second official visit on November 27, 2013. The announcements remain on paper till date.
"We have reasons to feel betrayed," the Bhagalpur MP said and added non-inclusion of the demand in the railway budget for the year 2015-16 would lead to "a mass stir". Banka MP Jai Prakash Narain Yadav said he had already submitted a memorandum to the railway Minister in this regard. Rajya Sabha member Kehkeshan Parween said she had also submitted a memorandum in this regard to the railway minister. BJP's Shahnawaz Hussain said it was a popular demand and railway minister Suresh Prabhu is sensitive to peoples' problems.