CIDCO refutes CR allegations over funds for Belapur-Uran project

The dispute between Central Railway and City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) over the much-delayed Seawoods-Belapur-Uran double line project took a new turn on Thursday.

CIDCO has refuted CR's allegations of not having released funds. CIDCO in a statement released on Thursday claimed that there has been no delay in releasing the funds from their side for the proposed project.

The statement comes after Central Railway authorities on Tuesday, while addressing the press, had threatened to stop the work on the project alleging that CIDCO had failed to release funds. Central Railway officials on Tuesday had said, "On the 27-km stretch we have completed about 20 per cent of the work. If Cidco does not create any further delay in releasing the payments then the project would be completed in four years."

CIDCO's statement claimed that work on the project was under process and said that since the utilisation of funds provided by them had not been carried out up-front by the railways, the accounting of the expenditure had been held up.

It further mentioned that CIDCO would further release the next due payment on the project to the railways soon. The town-planning agency denied any hold ups of funds from their side and stated that all the issues were being resolved in a weekly co-ordination meeting held with the Central Railway.

The project was started in the year 1997 and the cost of the project was around Rs 495 Crores. However, due to inordinate delays have resulted in the cost spiralling to over Rs 1,800 crore. The 27-km project will have nine new stations across the corridor including Seawoods, Sagarsangam, Targhar, Bamandongari kharkopar, Gavan, Ranjanpada, Nhavasheva, Dronagiri and Uran.