Title - CM flags off Godda rail project

Dumka, May 6: Chief minister Arjun Munda today laid the foundation stone for the much-awaited 30km link between Hansdiha and Godda, marking a milestone in the history of the only district in Santhal Pargana that lacks rail connectivity.“The new railway link in Godda will go a long way in bringing development to the area and its people. The rail service will not only attract passengers but also benefit local businessmen and farmers,” Munda said.Munda, who flagged off the Rs 276-crore project in the presence of local MP Nishikant Dubey near Kisan Bhawan in Godda, was accompanied by his deputies Sudesh Mahto and Hemant Soren, the first time the leaders of the ruling allies have together after the Rajya Sabha re-election on Thursday.Ajsu chief Mahto had joined hands with Hemant to vote in favour of the JMM and hand a defeat to the BJP nominee S.S. Ahluwalia.Mahto congratulated the local population for the rail link and promised that the government would contribute to growth further by soon completing several long-pending irrigation projects to benefit farmers in the district.Hemant termed the occasion a landmark, adding the people must co-operate by parting with land for the early completion of the railway line.Dubey, on the other hand, stressed that he had prioritised the demand for rail connectivity to his constituency after he was elected, adding that Godda had been the only district among the six in Santhal Pargana to be deprived of the same.“The demand has been raised for over five decades. But as an MP, I took up the matter with the highest authorities,” said the Godda MP, claiming that rail links from Godda to Mehrama and Deoghar were also on the anvil.Ravindra Gupta, divisional railway manager of Malda, Eastern Railway, said the project would be completed in 2015. The state government and the railways would share the costs equally, he added.

There will be altogether five stations between Hansdiha, which comes under the ongoing Mandar Hill (Bihar)-Dumka rail project, and Godda. The stations will include Gangwara, Poraiyahat and Kathwari.

Earlier, Munda arrived in Dumka airport on a chartered plane from New Delhi, where he had gone to attend the meeting of chief ministers on the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) yesterday. Munda told reporters that the NCTC must be created based on consensus of all the chief ministers to secure the federal structure of the country. The chief minister and his deputies flew to Godda on a helicopter.