VIJAYAWADA: State chief secretary Adityanath Das has sought three months from the union government to hand over required lands for various railway projects being implemented in Andhra Pradesh. He said the government has already initiated measures to acquire the required lands for Vizianagaram-Titlagarh third lane, Nadikudi-Srikalahasti and Kadapa-Bangalore projects. Das assured that the lands will be handed over by end of December.
The chief secretary’s assurance came during a video conference co-chairman of Pragati Projects Monitoring Group and union minister Manish Mandaviya, apart from union minister of state Jitendra Singh, had with chief secretaries of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand governments on Friday.
Adityanath Das said the state government has already taken steps to acquire land for the railway projects. He told the union ministers that some of the land has already been handed over to the Indian Railways, while the process has been expedited to acquire the remaining lands.
He pointed out that construction of the new Kovvur-Bhadrachalam railway line is part of AP’s bifurcation project and the government will take necessary steps in this regard.
The union ministers responded positively to the request seeking another three months for handover of the remaining lands to railways.
Chief secretaries M.T. Krishna Babu and V. Usharani were among the higher officials who participated in the video conference.
