Army called in for civil works in past: Railways

NEW DELHI: Facing flak over decision to rope in armed forces to construct three bridges, including one foot-over-bridge at

Elphinstone

station, railways defended the move arguing that globally Army does perform such roles for betterment of citizen services.

The transporter also said Army, BRO and GREF have “strong operational expertise” in building roads and bridges and developing infrastructure.

While railways cited several instances when Army was called in to carry out civil construction works during crisis situation, many railways engineers termed the move “demoralising” which poses a big question mark on our competence.

Soon after the announcement by the Centre, the opposition criticised the Centre’s decision to rope in the Army, terming the move as deplorable and an admission of the failure of the government and railways.

But, the decision to hand over the task to Army came as a big surprise for many in railways which is primarily a “department of engineers” who joined the transporter after getting higher engineering degrees from top institutions.Terming the move “demoralising” for railway engineers, an official said that the transporter has competence and facilities and is capable of handling any crisis situation.

Given ‘emergency powers’ such as single tender and a free hand in procurement, railways officials are best equipped to build the bridge in record time, said another official.

Times View
Mumbaikars will most likely welcome the fact that work on the foot over-bridges is being fast-tracked. There are precedents to using the army's services in times of crisis. From rebuilding infrastructure to repairing roads, governments in the past have sought the expertise of the armed forces in exigent situations. In this case though, the army is being called in to do the job of the railways, which itself specializes in civil engineering work and has a reputation for high standards.India's national transporter is fully capable of getting the job done well, but it is mired in red tape and takes too long. That's the problem which the government needs to fix, but has instead decided to sidestep.