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Latur officials asked for water train expenditure: Railways

Latur officials asked for water train expenditure: Railways

by | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics

watertrainNew Delhi (IANS) The Railways on Monday said Latur officials had requested the Central Railway to “indicate” the cost of ferrying water by train to the parched district in Maharashtra.

It said settlement of the water transportation cost of Rs.4 crore was not relevant at this stage.

“The Latur district administration requested the Central Railway to indicate the cost of water transportation by railways. In response, Central Railway shared information on cost of operation. The settlement is not relevant at this point of time as the most important matter is to continue uninterrupted supply of water to the people in their hour of need,” a ministry statement said.

It said the receipt of expenditure sent by the railways will be withdrawn immediately.

“Railways Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu is personally monitoring the operation and has directed the railways to continue to run the water trains. The minister has further ordered that the estimate of expenditure sent to the Latur administration on their request be withdrawn immediately. The issue of settlement of dues is being considered separately by the ministry,” the statement added.

Around 15,000 villages in Maharashtra, a majority of them in Latur, Beed and Osmanabad district, are gripped by an acute water shortage.

Till now, more than six crore litres of water has been transported by the railways from Miraj to Latur through water trains.

Railways has named these trains as ‘Jaldoot’ to emphasise the importance of this endeavour.

Indian railways suffer from lack of investment: Suresh Prabhu

Indian railways suffer from lack of investment: Suresh Prabhu

by | May 25, 2021 | Business, Large Enterprise

stationNew Delhi (IANS) Union Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu on Tuesday said the Indian railways system suffers from lack of investment which has hampered its growth.

Railway Minister Prabhu, who spoke at the inauguration event of Comrade Umraomal Purohit Memorial Research Centre here, compared the under-investment situation in the Indian railways with that of the Amtrak railway system of the US.

Prabhu pointed out that studies have shown that Amtrak got “derailed” due to lack of timely investment.

“Similarly, there was lot of concern in India that not enough investment was made into the Indian railway system over the years, hampering its expansion and modernisation,” Prabhu was quoted in a railway ministry statement.

Further Prabhu said that the government’s decision to enhance investments into the sector will save Indian railways from under-investment.

“Now the tempo of investment is continuing and more and more funds will continue to be invested in the railways in the years to come,” the minister said.

“Secondly, we are focusing on brining in best technology to ensure fully safe railway operations. We are also concentrating on more investment in research and development.”