NEW DELHI, JULY 28: Mamata Banerjee is the fairy godmother that West Bengal desperately needed. With one swish of her pen, she can conjure up a bounty for the state. If it's not a new railway line or a project, then it's a giant order for electric engines to be manufactured at Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW), at least one-third of which the Railways don't need. But if these would-be idle engines can boost her image, the additional cost of Rs 280 crore is a small price to pay for the Railways.The Railways need only 84 electric engines, but to take care of unforeseen circumstances, the CLW was asked to manufacture 94. Mamata, however, was not impressed. She added another 40 to the list.There may be many worried faces in the Railways but one man is happy. He is Chief Minister Jyoti Basu. Sources in the Railways said it was he who had written to Mamata asking her to enhance the original order to provide for jobs in the state. It was a bait which Mamata - driven by her love for Bengal as she is - had to bite. Manufacturing an electric engine costs Rs 7 crore.Of course, the management of CLW and the suppliers of components and other raw materials, who had approached Mamata directly, are also happy. They have been pleading that unless the CLW, which has a capacity to manufacture 165 locos annually, got more orders, bonus and incentives for the employees and the downstream industry would suffer.Railway officials are aghast. ``Neither is there any requirement for so many electric locos, nor do the Railways have adequate sheds to keep and maintain them. Moreover, with only 22 per cent of the total track length electrified, so many extra electric locos do not make sense at all,'' said a senior railway official.An electric engine lasts for 20-30 years, and with overhauling and repairs, it can be used for about 40 years. The original order was given to the CLW after a careful assessment of the number of engines required on new lines and trains and the replacements needed.``There is no way the Railways can afford the luxury of these additional engines. For the purpose of safety, spending on something like track renewal would make more sense. Or, providing for flasher lights, sirens and flares in the engines to be used in case of an emergency is far more important. This recommendation had been made in the report of the railway safety review committee headed by Justice H.R.Khanna,'' the official added.
