Not only had the UP government given 189.23 hectare land for a rail coach factory at Rae Bareli, its agencies had undertaken to supply water and electricity for the project and accepted more than Rs 5 crore in advance from the Railways.Now, while the government has taken back the land and ordered a refund of nearly Rs 9 crore the Railways had paid, other state agencies are still sitting on their share. Officers of these agencies say they are waiting for the dust to settle.In April 2007, the Railways had submitted a letter of intent to the district magistrate of Rae Bareli to acquire the land. Three months ago, the gram sabha land was allotted to the Railways. Talks with state government agencies to supply water and electricity to the site began soon after and the agencies submitted their estimates to the Railways. Official sources said Madhyanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam had received Rs 4.5 crore for the construction of a 33/11 kv sub-station and laying a 132 kv line from Dalmau to the site, while Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam had received Rs 73 lakh for installing tube wells. The payments were made in July, after which the work started and was to be completed by March 2009. Asked about the progress of the work, G S Gupta, Superintending Engineer of UP Jal Nigam, said: “The work was on but has been now stopped following a stay order by the court. They (Railways) had paid nearly Rs 73 lakh for the construction of tube wells.” He added, “We would have completed the work but right now we are waiting for the issue to be resolved.” B B Singh, Managing Director of Madhyanchal Vidhut Vitran Nigam Limited, also said they were waiting for a final word from the government. “We have Rs 4 crore with us. We will decide about it when the matter is settled,” Singh said. In a sudden about-turn on Sunday, the state government took back the land on the eve of bhumi pujan of the project, which was to be performed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. Explaining the reason behind the move, the government had said local farmers were agitated and a Singur-like situation was developing in Rae Bareli. Subsequently, on petitions filed by the Railways and local villagers, Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court had ordered status quo on the matter. The foundation stone of the Rs 1,685-crore factory was laid in February 2007 and the unit was expected to produce 1,000 coaches annually. Nearly 1,230 acre land is required for the project, of which 467 hectares belongs to the state government.
