Chandigarh-Baddi railway line to boost industry

The Centre's nod to the Chandigarh-Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) railway line will be a boon to industrial development of the region. With a project cost of Rs 330 crore, the 34-km railway line connecting Chandigarh and Baddi is expected to be ready by 2012.

The dedicated railway link for the hilly state was a long pending demand of the industralists of the area. It is expected that the sanction of this 34-km long railway line would not only help the industralists of the region but would also facilitate the industrial workers who commute between Chandigarh and Baddi.

Moreover, it will give further fillip to the industrial development of the region.

The divisional rail manager (DRM), Ambala, H K Jaggi, said, "We are doing survey for the railway line, and is likely to be completed within two months. As soon as the survey is completed, the work on project will start."

The Centre has sanctioned Rs 330 crore for the project for the stretch. He added that the railway line will have 8 tunnels, longest of them would be 1.8 km long.

The rail connectivity would benefit more than 4,000 industrialist of the area and this would also solve the problem of traffic congestion on roads, especially between Pinjore and Baddi. Currently, around 500 containers go out from Baddi every month by road.

At present in absence of proper infrastructure and road, the industralists are facing great problem. The condition of these roads is resulting in long traffic jams, abnormally high commuting time, wasteful consumption of fuel and environmental hazards.

Industralists also feels that the decision of the Union Cabinet would encourage more industrial houses to set up industries. Also, as CONCOR(Container Corporation) has envisaged interest in setting up inland container depot (ICD) in the industrial area.

The opening of this depot would certainly give relief to the industries from the constant problem of shortage of trucks and containers for transporting goods, and higher freight charges.