Survey to lay railway track halted, officials to take up matter with state govt

BATHINDA: After farmers of three villages objected to survey to lay railway line to connect the area with Talwandi Sabo, railway authorities have stopped the exercise and have taken up the matter with the state government. Railways has asked Punjab to satisfy farmers who are opposing land acquisition as otherwise it will be unable to carry out the survey.Led by Talwandi Sabo SAD MLA Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu, residents of three villages have decided to approach food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who had promised the rail link to Talwandi Sabo before Parliamentary elections in 2014.
It was after Railways conceded to a long-pending demand of Sikh pilgrims and the Talwandi Sabo residents for the town to be connected. The survey had already competed 28km of the nearly 34km. However, on Friday, the survey was stopped when farmers opposed it and handed over a memorandum to Talwandi Sabo SDM requesting to save their villages to bifurcate landholding. The Railways have planned to lay a track to connect Talwandi Sabo with nearby towns of Rama Mandi and Maur Mandi. Talwandi Sabo is known for Takht Damdama Sahib, the fifth temporal seat of Sikhs. The line is to be laid from Sada Singh Wala village to Talwandi and Talwandi to Rama Mandi measuring up to nearly 34km. From Maur to Sada Singh Wala, railway line was laid some time ago to facilitate coal supplies to Talwandi Sabo power plant.
The proposed railway line is to pass through villages Kamaalu, Gurusar Jaga, Fatehgarh Nau Abad, Bangi Nihal Singh Wala and Laleana. The residents of Kamaalu, Gurusar Jaga and Fatehgarh have raised objections over the survey. "We have asked state government to intervene and ensure hassle-free acquisition", said a railway official on condition of anonymity.
Kamaalu sarpanch Gurdit Singh said, "Sixty acres of land belonging to our village falls under the proposed survey and with this, our landholding will be dividing into two pieces. We have approached the administration to leave our village and now will meet the Union minister". Talwandi Sabo SAD MLA Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu said that such a survey was carried out a few years back but again, Railways are carrying out survey for reasons best known to them.