"Construction of boundary walls have been taken up, specially in metropolitan cities to protect railway land from encroachments, including by slum dwellers," the minister told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

Denying there was any plan to construct armed boundary walls, he said railway land is being put to various uses, including plantation, landscaping and planting of thorn bearing trees along the boundary to prevent encroachments.

Simultaneously, where feasible, the vacant land and air space over railway stations are being put to commercial use to raise revenue.

***

Bullet train plan under study

The railways are awaiting a techno-economic feasibility study on plans to start a high-speed train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

"A techno-economic feasibility study for running high-speed trains between Mumbai and Ahmedabad has already been initiated through the Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES)," the railway minister said in a written reply.

The railway authorities have also submitted a development study to the Japanese government, the minister said in reply to a question whether Japan has agreed to provide technical assistance to modernise basic infrastructure as per the requirement of the bullet train.

***

New concrete sleeper plants proposed

The railway ministry is considering setting up concrete sleeper manufacturing plants including two in Bihar to bridge deficit in production, Minister of State of Railways R. Velu said in a written reply.

"Proposals for setting up new concrete manufacturing units at various locations including two plants in East Central Railway falling in Bihar are under the consideration of the railway ministry," Velu said.

There are currently 79 concrete sleeper plants spread across the 16 railway zones in the country.

***

Godhra carnage probe report

The railway ministry has extended the tenure of a new committee constituted by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Sep 4 to probe incidents that led to the Godhra carnage in which 59 people were killed in a coach fire.

The new committee was to submit its report by Dec 3 (Friday).

"The government has since decided to extend the tenure of the committee by another three months," Velu said in a written reply.

***

Fraudulent pension payment

Indian Railways has detected 52 cases of fraudulent payment of pensions by banks resulting in losses of Rs.15 million.

"Investigations have revealed that banks have arranged payments against fake pension payment orders in 52 cases involving payment of around Rs.15 million," Velu said in a written reply.

--Indo-Asian News Service