Efforts should be made to end atmosphere of violence in Bengal: Goyal

Describing the recent bombattack on a Bengal minister at a railway station asunfortunate, Union minister Piyush Goyal on Friday called foran end to the ''atmosphere of violence'' in the state.

Minister of State for Labour Jakir Hossain was injuredafter unidentified attackers hurled a crude bomb at Nimtitarailway station in Murshidabad district on Wednesday night.

''I hope that attempts will be made to put an end tothe atmosphere of violence so that the people of West Bengalcan live in peace, and the state moves forward in the path ofdevelopment,'' Goyal, the Union Railway Minister, said.

Inaugurating a number of projects of South Eastern andEastern Railways in the state through video conferencing, hesaid people of West Bengal want progress and industrialgrowth.

''We will have to work together to fulfil theaspirations of the people of the state,'' he said.

The minister launched the first phase of a freightterminal at Sankrail of SER at a cost of Rs 139 crore, andsaid a warehouse will also come up at the terminal, which haseight lines for easy and fast movement of goods.

He threw open to the public a 12-metre wide secondfootbridge at Santragachi, constructed at a cost of Rs 20crore, to facilitate movement and dispersal of passengers atthe busy station.

Goyal also inaugurated an executive lounge and otherfacilities for passengers at the Sealdah station of ER.

The minister said by December 2023, the whole networkof Indian Railways will be operational through electrictraction.

In the next phase, by 2030, only renewable energy willbe used in the Railways, causing zero pollution, he said.

Goyal added that signalling systems are beingdeveloped indigenously to dispense with dependence on imports.

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