Kolhapur-Vaibhavwadi railway route DPR ready, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

Kolhapur: Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, while speaking in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, said a Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the 108-km Kolhapur-Vaibhavwadi railway line connecting Western Maharashtra and Konkan has been prepared.This long-pending railway route was in the pink book of the Central Railway for several years, but made into this year's Union budget after a provision of Rs3,411 crore . This will speed up the construction works of this project in the coming days.The minister clarified that by using ‘Lidar' technology, an aerial survey of this railway line was conducted by the railway administration. This resulted in detailed mapping of land elevation, trees, obstacles, and terrain. After this survey, the DPR of the project has now been prepared.The estimated cost of this project in 2016 was Rs3,244 crore. Currently, the estimated cost of this project is Rs6,300 crore and is likely to increase to Rs6,500 crore till its completion.This project will be completed through a 50-50 partnership between the central and state govts. Around 638 hectares of land will have to be acquired for this project, and a fund of Rs1,200 crore has been provided for land acquisition. The process of land acquisition will start soon through the district administration.Vaishnaw, while answering a question raised in the Lok Sabha, said, "For the 108-km-long new railway line between Kolhapur's Shri Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Terminus and Vaibhavwadi railway station, consultations will be held with various stakeholders, including state govt for this project. After that, the NITI Aayog and the finance ministry will complete the necessary approval process."He added, "The completion of a railway project depends on various factors. These factors include land acquisition, clearances from the forest department, removal of encroachments, statutory approvals from various authorities, geographical location of the area, law and order at the project site, and information on how many months of the year work can be carried out at a particular project site. Due to these processes, the project's completion period cannot be fixed at present."