Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha on Saturday took stock of the ongoing railway projects in Varanasi Division of Northern Railways with a team of officials.The projects include doubling and electrification of the Varanasi-Ballia railway section, DEMU shed in Aunrihar and construction of new broad gauge rail cum road bridge of 51 k.m. from Mau to Tarighat in Ghazipur.Most of these projects are in the parliamentary constituencies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sinha.The Minister used the occasion also to engage with the workers of eastern Uttar Pradesh in Varanasi, Ghazipur and Ballia and heard the grievances of the locals.On the way from Varanasi to Ballia, hundreds of villagers stopped the special train to demand a railway under pass in their village Ekla. Sinha met the agitating villagers and assured them their demand will be fulfilled.Sinha then reached his home town Gazipur where he inspected the renovation works going on for the development of City station. He also took stock of the construction of rail-cum-road bridge at Ghazipur.
"This project will provide a shorter, convenient and better transport infrastructure in the area separated by river Ganges. It will remove the transport difficulties on one hand and boost the economic development of the area on the other," he said. In addition to it an alternative broad gauge route connecting Northern and East Central Railway system via NE railway will also be available, he added.Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone of this rail cum road project in 2016.When the special train was passing through his home town of Yusufpur, he asked officials to stop the train for a while so that he could meet his childhood friends, whom he had called to the station. At Karimuddinpur, some people demanded stoppage for some express train, Sinha said in Bhojpuri, "Kauno gadi Jaye, Wu rukhi ke Chahiye (any train which passes through here must stop)".Interacting with a group of journalists from Delhi, he became emotional remembering his childhood days."See, this road goes to my village. In childhood days we used to watch trains going on the route. Many a time I covered the distance from my village to Yusufpur and from there to village by walking," he said.The day-long journey ended at Varanasi, the Parliamentary constituency of the Prime Minister. He inspected the ongoing development projects here and asked the officials to get the projects ready before deadline.