Rail min’s Rs 2cr aid for accident locality

BHUBANESWAR: Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday announced Rs 2 crore aid for development of Bahanaga locality where a train accident took place on June 2 in which 292 people were killed and more than 1,200 were injured.
The Union minister visited the accident site at Bahanaga Bazar and met the locals. He thanked the villagers for helping the injured passengers and rescuers during the tragedy.As many as 135 locals were felicitated by him. Vaishnaw announced that Rs 1 crore will be sanctioned from the Railway Fund for development of Bahanaga government hospital and Rs 1 crore from Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MP LAD) fund for development of Bahanaga village.
“I profusely thank the villagers of Bahanaga for unitedly helping the injured passengers and working with rescuers after the train accident at Bahanaga Bazar. I came here to express my gratitude to the people of this locality,” said Vaishnaw after meeting the villagers at Bahanaga. The railway minister said people of Bahanaga suggested him to develop the government hospital there. “Rs 1 crore will be spent to improve the condition of Bahanaga hospital to provide better services to people. Another Rs 1 crore has been announced for development of Bahanaga and its nearby localities,” he added.
Vaishnaw said he will review the restoration work. “The restoration work is almost completed. The signalling work, which is pending, will be ready within the next four days. Station development work will be done apart from other works,” he added.
Rajendra Ghadei, a villager of Sathi near the accident site, said he attended the programme and felt happy for being mentioned for his work in the minister’s speech. “I had reached the accident spot immediately and transported many injured people in my autorickshaw to Balasore hospital that night. I am happy that railway minister thanked us for our work,” he added.