Mungantiwar asks Railway officials to speed up Chandrapur, Ballarshah station works

MLA Sudhir Mungantiwar has directed railway officials to complete the redevelopment of Chandrapur railway station and works at Ballarshah station quickly. The meeting was held at the Central Railway divisional office in Nagpur. Divisional Railway Manager Vinayak Garg was present.

The meeting reviewed works under way under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. The naming of the Tadoba Express, train frequencies, a service to Pune, land acquisition and traders' concerns were also discussed. The MLA stressed the need to improve passenger facilities.

Mungantiwar laid particular emphasis on completing the redevelopment of the Chandrapur and Ballarshah stations faster under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. He said the development of both stations should not be limited to infrastructure, but should give passengers modern facilities and bring out the distinct identity of Chandrapur district. He asked Divisional Railway Manager Vinayak Garg to review the current status of the works and speed up the necessary action.

Mungantiwar also advised taking forward the proposal to name the new Ballarshah-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus train "Tadoba Express". He said that to finalise an attractive and distinctive design for the train, officials of the J.J. School of Art and the Tadoba administration should be consulted and the process completed as early as possible.

He drew the railway administration's attention to increasing the frequencies of several trains from Ballarshah station and starting a rail service to Pune. It was stated that proposals for more trains have been sent to headquarters, and hope was expressed of positive action on them soon. It was also said that once work on the third Wardha-Sevagram-Ballarshah rail line is complete, there will be more scope to increase the number of trains.

Mungantiwar directed that work on the station's foot overbridge (FOB) and improvement of the Gol Puliya railway underpass in Ballarpur be carried out immediately. He demanded that a cement concrete road or high-grade asphalting be laid in the Gol Puliya area to make movement of people safer and easier. He put this demand before Vinayak Garg.

He also took the initiative to resolve the issue of traders in a shopping complex built on Central Railway land in Ballarpur city. In this matter, Vinayak Garg assured Mungantiwar at the meeting that he would visit the site himself and assess the situation.

He also demanded that the objections of farmers affected by land acquisition for the proposed rail line in the Babupeth-Sasti area be addressed and that they be given fair compensation and necessary facilities. He also stressed the need to find out the present status of land acquisition in Mauja Ballarpur for the third Wardha-Sevagram-Ballarshah rail line and the dumping yard project.

On the issue of encroachments on Central Railway land in Chandrapur city, Mungantiwar called for a decision from a humane perspective. He demanded that the anti-encroachment action be halted until alternative housing arrangements are made for those concerned. He also said an immediate positive decision was needed on the proposal to extend the Bhagyanagar Express from Kaghaznagar to Ballarshah-Chandrapur.

At the meeting, Mungantiwar pressed together for action on passenger convenience, development of railway infrastructure, farmers' interests and resolution of traders' concerns. He expressed hope that Vinayak Garg would speed up the necessary action to strengthen rail services in Chandrapur district and resolve pending issues.

Former MLA Sanjeev Reddy Bodkurwar, Ajay Dubey, a member of the ZRUCC of Central Railway, Mumbai, Divisional Railway Manager Vinayak Garg and railway officials were present at the meeting.