The Ministry of Railways (MOR) has entrusted the work of Detailed Project Report (DPR) of 7 High Speed Rail (HSR) corridors to National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited. The Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar HSR corridor is one of the primary corridors. In the corridor, the HSR corridor connecting Delhi to Amritsar is approximately 474.772 km in length. In this connection, the public meetings are being conducted in presence of officials and the other stakeholders to have an insight into associated environmental and social views on the Delhi-Amritsar High Speed Rail Project. In the meeting held in Panipat , all the details pertaining to the project were shared while taking the opinion of all the stakeholders. It has come to light that this corridor will pass through many districts of Haryana. Information about the rail corridor has revealed that the corridor from Delhi to Amritsar will cover 10 railway stations including five railway stations of Haryana namely Sonipat, Panipat, Karnal and Ambala. After this, the high speed train will reach Amritsar station via Chandigarh covering Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Beas railway stations. in Punjab.Thus, as many as 10 stations from three states will come on the way. This corridor will pass through a total of 16 districts of the three states. These include Delhi, South West Delhi, West Delhi, North West Delhi, districts of the country’s capital Delhi, while the corridor will pass through 6 districts of Haryana including Jhajjar, Sonipat, Panipat, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Ambala. The corridor will pass through Mohali, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Amritsar districts of adjoining Punjab.
The information further revealed that as many as 133 villages in 6 districts of Haryana will be affected by the corridor as it will pass through the land of these villages. A maximum of 35 villages of Karnal will be included in the corridor, followed by 34 villages of Sonipat and 24 villages of Kurukshetra. Apart from these, 22 villages of Panipat, 12 of Ambala and one village of Jhajjar will be affected by the corridor. The length of the high speed rail corridor in Haryana will be 181.17 Kilometers. The length of the corridor will be 54.9 kilometers in Karnal followed by 42.885 kilometers in Sonipat, 31.14 kilometers in Panipat, 30.9 kilometers in Kurukshetra, 20.16 kilometers in Ambala and 0.585 kilometers in Jhajjar. Apart from this, 351.07 hectares of land will be acquired from the districts of Haryana for the corridor. A maximum 54.9 hectares of land will be acquired from Karnal, 42.885 hectares from Sonipat, 31.74 hectares from Panipat, 30.9 hectares from Kurukshetra, 20.16 hectares from Ambala and 0.585 hectares from Jhajjar.
The corridor is most likely to benefit all sections of the society in several ways, especially reducing the travel time between Delhi and Amritsar estimatedly from 8 hours to 2 hours. The operation of passenger trains with higher carrying capacity and special dedicated routes provides more frequent commuting opportunities and greater safety. To connect the National Capital Region with major places in Haryana and Punjab which are significant industrial centers as well as having historical/religious/tourism importance such as Sonipat, Panipat, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar. Additionally, the Corridor also aims to provide scope for the development of new production centers and townships along the route. Apart from this, it will also help in promoting construction activity, technical enhancement of railways and development of long-term infrastructure.
Apart from aforesaid, the objective of the project is also to overcome the shortage of traditional rail, road and air transport between Delhi and Amritsar. Greenhouse gas emissions will also reduce due to more efficient transportation options. Building the stations will help in adopting green technologies to make them more sustainable and will also help in significantly reducing road traffic congestion as it will eliminate the large number of private cars on urban roads and the operation of conventional buses. At the same time, there will be a reduction in the maintenance requirements of urban roads.
The benefits of the proposed corridors will also include reductions in the budget maintenance of the concerned Municipal Corporations, in vehicles, air pollution) and noise level and noise pollution. The direct impact of the project will potentially accelerate the dynamics of socio-economic activities which is essential for a growing economy. Employment will also increase due to promotion of industrial activities in the areas connected with the DCAHSR corridor. Long distance travel will become easier. It is also pertinent to mention that the proposed rate for land purchase will be double the market price or circle rate in urban areas and four times the market price/circle rate in rural areas. This is as per the provision of Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR )Act, 2013 All structures and other assets will be assessed by the competent government departments under RFCTLARR 2013 Schedule-II. R&R assistance/benefits will be provided to the affected land holders/affected structures/assets as per applicable provisions of IPC.