Union Railway Ministry has approved a Rs. 255 crore project for a new railway line from Muzaffarnagar to Haridwar via Deoband, Maulana Masood Madani said on January 7.
Talking to presspersons, former Minister in the ND Tiwari cabinet of Uttaranchal Maulana Madani said the Railway Ministry was earlier planning a direct line from Muzaffarnagar to Haridwar excluding Deoband. He called on the Union Railways Minister Lalu Prasad and raised the issue of including Deoband into the project.
His argument to the Railway Minister was: “As Haridwar is a holy place for the Hindus, Deoband holds global repute owing to housing Darul Uloom Deoband in the city; if the new railway line goes via Deoband, it would encourage the Ganga-Jami culture in the country.”
Maulana Madani further said the Railway Ministry has granted acceptance to his demand and he has received a letter from Union State Minister for Railways R Vellu informing him that the project as per his proposal has been approved and the work will be started soon.
He added that implementation of this new project will benefit not only the people of Deoband but those of the entire area.
Maulana Madani also hoped that a double line between Meerut and Saharanpur involving Rs. 238.38 crore will be also approved sooner or later.