Vaishnaw refutes Kejriwal’s claim on Shakur Basti jhuggis as ‘factually incorrect’

New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday refuted AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal’s claim related to a parcel of railway land in Delhi’s Shakur Basti as “factually incorrect” and presented a detailed account of his ministry’s work to develop railway stations in the capital.

The railway minister told reporters that his ministry’s budget for Delhi has gone up by 27 times in 10 years, from Rs 96 crore to Rs 2,582 crore.

“Arvind Kejriwal went to Shakur Basti two-three days ago and said the railways has floated tendered for these jhuggis,” he said in an apparent reference to the land housing these slums.

“I want to state this very clearly that nothing of this sort has happened. He (Kejriwal) has made a purely, factually incorrect statement,” Vaishnaw added.

Showing a map at a press conference, he said the project Kejriwal referred to was a vacant plot being developed for the Shakur Basti railway station.

The former Delhi chief minister had accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of planning to demolish slums in Shakur Basti’s railway jhuggi camp.

Speaking about his ministry’s work in Delhi, Vaishnaw said all the 13 main railway stations in the national capital are being redeveloped. Most of the stations had become old, he added.

The Safdarjung railway station is being redeveloped into a seven-floor project, while the one in Bijwasan will become an important hub for trains to western India, the Union minister said.

Hazrat Nizamuddin is being developed as a mega terminal to ease congestion, he added.

Similarly, the Anad Vihar, Sarai Rohilla and Delhi Cantonment stations are undergoing redevelopment, Vaishnaw said.

He said a new 1.2-km-long bridge over the Yamuna river is ready and will be open to operation soon, adding that Delhi can currently handle 700 trains and the ministry is preparing a masterplan, keeping in mind the need to deal with up to 1,200 to 1,400 trains in the future.