Question : Construction of East West Corridor

(a) whether the work of the under construction East-West corridor rail line from Gevra (Korba) to Pendra Road (Bilaspur) in Chattisgarh is extremely slow and no basic and expected progress has been made during the last five years in this regard.

(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;

(c) whether the Government is aware that some transport companies are causing constraints in the construction work of the said rail line for their personal gain and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the Government has received any request for speeding up the construction work while resolving the barriers of the said project and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) the steps taken/proposed to be taken to expedite work of this project?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*****


STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3744 BY DR. BANSHILAL MAHATO, SHRI LAKHAN LAL SAHU AND SHRI VIKRAM USENDI TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 09.08.2017 REGARDING CONSTRUCTION OF EAST WEST CORRIDOR
`

(a), (b) & (e) : After the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between Ministry of Railways and Government of Chhattisgarh in February,2012, the work of new railway line between Gevra Road and Pendra Road stations was sanctioned in the year 2013-14 and its doubling in the year 2015-16. The project was notified as a special railway project in December,2013. As per the MOU, the project is to be completed within 3½ years. However, the progress of the project has been slower than expected on account of land acquisition and forest clearance.

(c) & (d) : No such information is available.

*****