The Union Railway Ministry has allocated 371.32 acres of vacant land of the South East Central Railway (SECR) zone for use under ‘Grow More Food Scheme’ as of March 31, 2016, officials informed.
Notably, the vacant Railway land is given on licence to Railway employees working in Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ category under Grow More Food (GMF) scheme.
As per the extant policy, licensing of Railway land to private parties/persons for the purposes not connected with Railway working is not permitted.
It may be recalled that Chhattisgarh is among nine states in the country where the Rail land Development Authority (RlDA) will carry out architectural study to develop vacant Railway plots.
The RlDA is engaging Architectural and Real Estate Consultants from its empanelled list to carry out the study, officials stated.
Notably, SECR will also soon start the process of re-developing Bilaspur, Raigarh and Champa Railway stations in Chhattisgarh as part of its mega modernisation plan, officials stated.
A major move is already underway to adopt use of solar power as renewal source of electrical energy especially in SECR’s office buildings, officials stated.
Continuing its effort to promote the use of renewable energy, the SECR's Raipur division has also installed solar panels at level-crossings existing in remote pockets of the division.
The power generated by these solar panels are being utilised for lighting, phone recharging and others purpose. The estimated cost of installing solar panels at level crossing is around Rs 20000 and it generates around 150 units of electricity. With minimum maintenance, these solar panels last for several years ranging for 15 to 20 years.