Govt mulling over railway policy: Gachhadar
Minister for physical planning and works Bijay Kumar Gachhadar has on Sunday said that the government was preparing to bring a clear policy
about the construction of railway in the upcoming budget.
While speaking at the international symposium on Railway Development in
Nepal held by National Planning Commission (NPC) in the capital, he also
stressed the need to stimulate private sector in construction railway in
the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Laxmi Prasad Devkota, member, NPC, said that the
issue of railway development should be incorporated in the concept of
integrated transportation system.
"Expansion of railway connectivity can go a long way in altering the
existing geographical identification of Nepal as landlocked country into a
"land-link one".
He also opined that since the country lacks adequate experience on railway
construction, any modality related to expanding railway connection should
be chalked out after proper discussion.
Purma Kadariya, secretary, Minister of Physical Planning and Works
(MoPPW), admitted that there is still confusion whether the onus of
constructing railways lies on the MoPPW or Ministry of Transportation.
He also stressed on the need to design a comprehensive policy on railway
constructions at the soonest possible.
Dhruba K. Regmi, joint-secretary, MoPPW said that establishing a separate
Railway Authority to determine institutional and legal modality apart
from allocating resource for the construction of railway is the need of
the hour.
Nabaraj Khatiwada, Managing Director, Nepal Development Research Institute
(NDRI), proposed various railway corridors and said that political
stability is mandatory to smoothly construct railways across the country.
Radha K. Nepal, Director, NPC programme, stated that the process of
railway construction should be commenced in line with the public-private
partnership (PPP) approach.
He also emphasised on the production of quality human resources to
effectively develop railway lines in the country. nepalnews.com May 03 09
