A day before the Railway Budget 2013-14, Union minister of state for railway Adhir Chowdhury said that there would not be any announcement of any new train or rail project for West Bengal in the Railway Budget on Tuesday which is not viable. “Unlike some previous Railway Budget, the budget for 2013-14 will not announce new populist projects,” he added.
He also held that the land policy of the ruling government in West Bengal was responsible for endangering the fate of several railway projects which were in the pipeline, including the East-West Metro project as Railways cannot acquire land by itself without the cooperation of the state government.
Trinamul Congress MP Saugata Roy on the other hand said that his party would protest if sufficient funds were not allotted for projects announced by Mamata Banerjee when she was railway minister. “If sufficient money is not allotted to the projects proposed by then railway minister Mamata Banerjee, we will oppose the decision. We had previously opposed to the 20 per cent fare hike. We will do the same if further fare hike is made,” Mr Roy said.
Meanwhile, former CPI(M) MP Sujan Chakraborty along with other CPI(M) leaders Amitava Nandi and Nepaldeb Bhattacharya will meet Mr Chowdhury on Tuesday to discuss the future of the state railway projects.