Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway Upgradation

PAC directs ministry to allocate needful resources

KATHMANDU, AUG 11 -The parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday directed the Ministry of Finance to allocate needful resources for land acquisition to fast-track upgradation of the Janakpur- Jayagar Railway. The government is planning to extend the railway network to Bardibas, besides upgrading it from the narrow gauge to broad gauge under the grant assistance from India.

The newly established Railway Department under the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works has already published notices on acquiring land for upgrading the railway of the Nepal Railway Company Limited and construction of a cross-border railway link-Rani Sikiyahi-Biratnagar.
However, the department has been saying that the allocated fund of Rs 40 million for land acquisition in the current fiscal year is nominal to continue the work.

The department had demanded Rs 800 million for acquiring 220 hectares of land in the stretch of Jayanagar-Bijulpura for upgrading the Janakpur- Jayanagar Railaway track and 112 hectares for the construction of Rani Sikiyahi-Biratnagar link. The budget in the current fiscal year too has set a target to extend the railway route to Bardibas and start construction of a link in Biratnagar.

“We have requested the Ministry of Finance to allocate additional budget for land acquisition by mid-September,” said Ram Kumar Lamsal, director general of the department. He added that if the government allocates additional resources, upgrading work would start after two months.

Following a meeting on Thursday, the PAC has also directed the government to bring Nepal Railway under the Railway Department and operate the service smoothly in the existing 29 km route with needful maintenance until the railway track gets upgraded into broad-gauge. Currently, the company is under the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management. However, a high-level official at the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works said it would be useless to spend a heavy amount for maintenance as the work on upgrading the narrow-guage to broad-guage is underway. “The government should concentrate more on pushing up the upgradation and extension work besides allocating heavy amount for outdated narrow-guage,” the official added.

Four months ago, Nepal Railway had sought Rs 139 million for the maintenance purpose and the Ministry of Finance has already provided Rs 39.3 million as per the directive issued earlier by the PAC.  The Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway—the one and only railway service of the country—is being operated in loss for the last two fiscal years as a result of poor performance and overstaffing problems.

Anil Gurung, under-secretary at the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management and a board member of Nepal Railway, said the company faced a loss of Rs 7.89 million in the last fiscal year. He added that the PAC decision to operate service by carrying out needful maintenance is laudable.