The Punjab Rural Development, NRI Affairs and Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Tuesday called on the Union Minister of State for Railways and Textiles Darshana Vikram Jardosh at Udyog Bhavan Delhi.
During the meeting, Dhaliwal urged the Union Minister of State for Railways to construct the platform at Ramdas station in Amritsar district name it after Baba Buddha ji.
He said that Ramdas, a very important town from the border in Ajnala assembly constituency of the state, has a significant religious importance as many historical Gurdwaras in the memory of first head priest (Granthi) of Golden Temple Baba Buddha Sahib are situated here.
Due to this, a huge number of pilgrims including foreigners visit this place daily and most people generally belong to the economically weaker section reached here by train.
Apart from pilgrims, students and patients as well as daily commuters from the town use train service to reach Amritsar city for treatment. However, the railway station is in a dilapidated condition as it was built before partition of India-Pakistan.
Moreover, absence of a platform at the railway stations adds to the woes of the passengers. Even a number of mishaps took place with travelers due to this but the issue had not been raised by anyone till now, Dhaliwal said in his letter handed over to the Union Minister.
The Cabinet Minister of Punjab informed the Union Minister that there is only one railway link from Amritsar to Dera Baba Nanak for Ramdas town and Kartarpur Sahib Corridor. He said that this railway line is very crucial for the people of Gurdaspur and Amritsar districts.
Dhaliwal said that the trains coming from Dera Baba return only from Verka station outside the city of Amritsar due to which the passengers have to face a lot of difficulties. He demanded that these trains should be run from Amritsar city railway station instead of Verka.
During the meeting, which was held in a cordial atmosphere, Union Minister Jardosh assured to take concrete steps to address demands raised by the Punjab Cabinet Minister.
After the meeting, replying to a media query on Supreme Court’s directions for holding coordinating meetings between Punjab and Haryana on Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal , Dhaliwal said that the Punjab government respects the apex court and Punjab will present its case strongly whenever and wherever it will be necessary.
The Minister categorically said that Punjab does not have surplus water to give to other states and now the state itself is struggling with the declining level of underground water.