Lok Sabha Question No. 239 (STARRED), answered on 2024-08-07
Subject: Sitamarhi-Sheohar New Rail Line
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Smt. Lovely Anand

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 239 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.08.2024

## SITAMARHI-SHEOHAR NEW RAIL LINE

†*239  SMT.  LOVELY ANAND:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  current  status  of  Sitamarhi-Sheohar-Bapudham  Motihari  new railway line in East Central Railway Zone;
- (b) whether  the  people  of  Sheohar  region  are  deprived  of  railway services even after 75 years of independence;
- (c) whether  the  survey  of  the  said  new  railway  line  was  conducted years ago;
- (d) whether  it  is  a  fact  that  the  same  was  approved  in  the  Railway Budget 2006-07 and despite that the work has not started yet;
- (e) if so, the reasons therefor;
- (f) whether the work of land acquisition has also been completed for this purpose; and
- (g) whether the cost of the said railway project escalated four times due to inordinate delay in implementation of the above rail project?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (g)  OF STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  239  BY  SMT.  LOVELY  ANAND  TO  BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 07.08.2024 REGARDING SITAMARHISHEOHAR NEW RAIL LINE

(a) to  (g):  Motihari-Sheohar-Sitamarhi  (76.70  Km)  New  Rail  Line Project was included in the budget. Considering low traffic projections, the project, could not be taken forward earlier.

However,  for  providing  rail  connectivity  to  district  Headquarter  of Sheohar,  Detailed  Estimate  for  part  Sitamarhi-Sheohar  (28  Km) section  has  been  sanctioned  at  a  cost  of  ₹566.83  crore  and  land acquisition for the same has been taken up. About 397 acres of land is required for this work and payment of ₹262 crore has been made to the Government of Bihar.

Further  to  assess  latest  traffic  projection  &  cost,  a  Final  Location Survey  (FLS)  of  Motihari-  Sheohar  new  Line  has  been  taken  up  for preparation of Detailed Project Report(DPR).

As on 01.04.2024, 55 projects (31 New Lines, 02 Gauge Conversions and 22 Doubling), of total length of 5,064 Km, costing ₹79,356 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar are in planning/approval/construction  stage,  out  of  which,  1194  km  length has  been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of  ₹26,983  crore  has been incurred upto March, 2024.

Average  annual  commissioning  for  Infrastructure  and  safety  works, falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar is as under:-

| Period   | Total track Commissioned   | Average track Commissioned   | Increase w.r.t. average Commissioning during 2009-14   |
|----------|----------------------------|------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009- 14 | 318 Km                     | 63.6 km per year.            | -                                                      |
| 2014- 24 | 1669 Km                    | 166.9 Km per year.           | More than 2.5 times                                    |

Average annual Budget allocation for Infrastructure and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar is as under:-

| Year    | Budget Outlay   | % change w.r.t. average annual allocation of 2009-14   |
|---------|-----------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14 | ₹1132 Cr./Yr    | -                                                      |
| 2023-24 | ₹8505 Cr.       | More than 7.5 times                                    |

Completion of any Railway project/s depends on various factors like quick  land  acquisition  by  State  Government,  forestry  clearance  by officials of forest department, deposition of State share by the State Government  in  cost  sharing  projects,  shifting  of  infringing  utilities, statutory clearances from various authorities, geological and topographical conditions of area, law and order situation in the area of  project/s  site,  number  of  working  months  in  a  year  for  particular project site due to climatic conditions, etc and all these factors affect the  completion  time  of  the  project/s.  With  above  constraints,  every effort is being made to complete these projects at the earliest.

Various  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  for  effective  and speedy implementation of rail projects include (i)  setting  up of Gati Shakti  Directorate  in  the  Ministry  and  Gati  Shakti  units  in  field,  (ii) prioritisation  of  projects,  (iii)  substantial  increase  in  allocation  of funds, (iv) delegation of powers at field level, (v) close monitoring of progress of project at various levels (vi) regular follow up with State Governments and concerned authorities for expeditious land acquisition,  forestry  and  Wildlife  clearances  and  for  resolving  other issues pertaining to projects.

******