Giving boost to economic progress of the Eastern Vidarbha region, on Friday, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved four major projects of railways including track doubling of the 240-km Gondia-Ballarshah Rail Route with an estimated cost of Rs 4,819 crore. The project, sanctioned as a part of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan scheme, aims to create the multimodal and efficient transportation network between different economic zones. With this, the traffic that has risen to 125 per cent will be reduced, providing the infrastructural development for railways and help economic growth with better rail connectivity between Gondia, Bhandara, Gadchiroli, Chandrapur and Rajnandgaon districts.

 

Making this announcement in the Parliament, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw hoped that the project would not only give a boost to economic development but will also promote tourism activities. Former MP Sunil Mendhe had taken up the subject with the Railway Minister and a Detailed Project Report (DPR) was approved during his tenure. Mendhe expressed happiness, saying that it is good for the backward areas like Gondia and Bhandara districts.

 

The project will also help in reducing the pollution with lower CO2 emission and the route is also important in view of the transportation of commodities such as agricultural products, fertiliser, iron ore, coal, steel, cement, limestone, etc. It was informed that 19 new stations will be constructed with enhancement in connectivity to two aspirational districts of Gadchiroli (Maharashtra) and Rajnandgaon (Chhattisgarh). The other projects are multi tracking of Sambalpur-Jarapda, Jharsugada-Sason and the Kharasia-Naya Raipur-Parmalkasa rail routes.