UP government treads cautiously on Ayodhya Dham railway station expansion

LUCKNOW: The BJP-led UP government is treading cautiously on the proposed expansion project of Ayodhya Dham Railway Station after the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections

The BJP faced the anger of traders and residents during the elections for allegedly paying inadequate compensation against their establishments which were sacrificed during the makeover of the temple town.

As per sources, the Ayodhya district administration has urged the railways to address all issues of land owners to their complete contentment before acquiring any land for the expansion of the Railway Station.

The district administration has reportedly advised the Railway authorities to carry out another survey of five villages which are expected to come under the ambit of expansion plan. The district authorities have urged the railways to spare the houses, if possible, before acquiring land for the expansion of Ayodhya Dham railway station.

“For the expansion project, the state government wants to take all the precautions before acquisition of land to the satisfaction of those who will offer their land for the project,” said a senior state government official seeking anonymity.

The last major project for which the state government had acquired land in Ayodhya was related to the widening of the Ram Path, Bhakti Path and Dharma Path roads.

Notably, in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha polls, the ruling BJP lost Ayodhya and one of the reasons for the drubbing is being attributed to the sulking traders who had a grudge over inadequate compensation for their establishments which came under the road widening project of the temple town.

However, for the expansion of Ayodhya Dham Railway Station, the Union government has issued a notification for land acquisition. This expansion project would be one of the first mega projects of the Modi 3.0 government for Ayodhya.

The notification for the expansion project was issued on June 6 listing the areas where land will be acquired.

As per sources, the total land that will be acquired by the railways for the project stands out to be 6.540 hectares in five villages including Jalwanpur, Kazipur, Bagh Baigasi, Chitwa and Bagh Farharbaksh. The sources claimed that 50% of the land is vacant and the remaining 50% has houses.

An initial round of meetings among the affected villagers, Ayodhya District administration officials and Railway authorities took place last month and another round is expected soon.

The sources claimed that Ayodhya DM Nitish Kumar had asked the railway authorities to make all efforts to spare houses from acquisition and address all issues of villagers before acquiring their land.

In a recent interaction with affected residents of five villages, the district magistrate noted all their concerns and assured them of adequate compensation before acquiring their land. The DM had also shared a rehab plan with the villagers in case their houses came under the ambit of the project.

The first phase of the Ayodhya Dham Railway station was launched in 2018 and came up with a budget of ₹150 crore. It was inaugurated by PM Modi on December 30, 2023.