Govt fast tracks East-West DFC corridors

In its quest to commission, both the eastern and western freight corridors within the stipulated time frame, the government has decided to complete these mega rail projects by 2019, Union Minister of State for Railways, Manoj Sinha, said in an official statement, adding that the ministry is going all out to commission and inaugurate both these freight corridors by the Prime Minister during his current term. He also pointed out that the Allahabad-Mirzapur section of the Indian Railways is currently confronting multiple problems and Railways Minister is working hard to resolve them as quickly as possible. He further said lamenting that the transport projects in Uttar Pradesh were being "ignored" in the past many decades and the current government has already sanctioned projects worth Rs 21,000-cr for the state in the current fiscal and that the budget for national highways has also grown six times for the first time since 1947, the same has not happened in the case of railways despite the fact that it is the "cheapest" mode of transport and this happened largely due to the lackadaisical attitude of the successive governments both at the central and state levels.