Redevelopment of Chandigarh railway station suffers a setback

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 20

The Ministry of Railways has ‘in principle’ decided to close down the Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC), leaving the plan for redeveloping Chandigarh railway station in limbo again.

Though zonal railways have now been directed to develop stations’ projects, officials could not give the exact details of how they plan to go ahead with the redevelopment.

The renovation of Chandigarh railway station has been hanging fire since October 2012, when the then railway minister, Pawan Kumar Bansal, had announced that it would be made it a world-class facility.

The IRSDC was formed in 2012 for transforming the country’s railway stations into world-class hubs.

It was only in March this year that the IRSDC conducted the first pre-bid meeting for leasing vacant land parcels for mixed-use development as part of the Chandigarh railway station redevelopment project. In September, the bids were invited for setting up a rail arcade at the city station.

In a letter dated October 18, the Railway Board communicated the approval to dissolve the IRSDC.

“The Competent Authority has now decided ‘in principle’ for the closure of the IRSDC,” read the contents of the letter, which has been addressed to the vice-chairman, Rail Land Development Authority; chairman and managing director, Ircon; chairman and managing director of RITES Ltd; and the managing director and chief executive officer, IRSDC.

“All project-related documents be handed over to respective Zonal Railways by the IRSDC. Examine other contracts. Transfer (novate) the contracts to Zonal Railways. All necessary procedural formalities for the closure of the IRSDC should be initiated,” the letter by Harish Chandra, Deputy Director, Station Dev.-2, Railway Board, states.

The IRSDC officials remained tight-lipped about the closure of the corporation. However, an IRSDC official, on condition of anonymity, shared, “Only the railway board and corporate office in Delhi can tell why this decision was taken. The planning of IRSDC projects was done in Delhi office of the corporation. In fact, the tenders were floated and one was awarded too, but then Covid happened in March 2020. There is a clause that if during the contract, there’s a pandemic or famine or anything, the contractor can leave. The company then backed out. Right now, we have no SOPs on how to go about the projects except handing them to the zonal railways as per the letter issued by the railway board.”

When contacted, GM Singh, DRM, Ambala Division, said, “We still don’t have any updates on the further steps that need to be taken, but we are ready to take up tasks we are given and perform them to the best of our abilities.”

No work carried out for 7 years: Bansal

Pawan Kumar Bansal, former railway minister and MP, said, “This government is out to sell all assets of the country. The 50 trains that have been privatised will have a 30-minute head-start, which is beneficial for private players. As for world-class railway station projects, no work has been done for the past seven years now.” He added, “In the name of converting these stations into world-class stations, it seems they are now planning to pass them on to private players, considering that even stations are being privatised. This will impact everything, from the rates of platform tickets to car parking tickets.”