SAHARSA, Feb. 17 -- Despite the Samastipur railway division significantly reducing the cost of the proposed doubling of the 44-km-long Saharsa-Mansi railway line project, locals are irked over the delay in granting the approval for the proposal that is resulting in the project getting unduly stranded. The revised DPR (Detailed Project Report) of doubling of Mansi- Saharsa section was submitted to the Railway Board in December last year. It sought to lower the earlier estimated cost of Rs.1,000 crore to Rs.500 crore, said an official in the East Central Railways (ECR). The approval remains pending, even though some officials assure that it is almost final and the project will soon enter the construction phase. According to some railway insiders, there was some feasibility issue with the previous DPRs. "The DPRs sent earlier included a number of works like electrification, platform upgradation, bridges, underpasses, ROB construction and modernisation of railway crossings. Due to these additional provisions, the cost of the project was substantially increased and financial clearance from the Railway Board was not being obtained," an official said. For this reason, the Railway Division has changed its strategy and focused only on doubling the railway line, he added. The new DPR, said Jyoti Prakash Mishra, divisional railway manager (DRM) of the Samastipur rail division visited Saharsa, will see several bridges built to streamline the proposed project. He hoped that the revised DPR gets the Railway Board's green-light at the earliest. Outlining the benefits of the doubling, Saharsa-based social activist Amit Anand said, "The doubling of tracks will increase line capacity, addressing delays for over 45 pairs of passenger trains and 10-12 pairs of goods trains that currently use the single line." He however was incensed over the delay in the project that will prove so beneficial to the locals who have been waiting for such amenities since the time of independence. "When the Union government claims not to halt any developmental work, such a delay in approval for this pivotal project is dismaying," he said. Septuagenarian founder secretary of Kosi seva Sadan, Saharsa, Rajendra Jha has almost lost his hope. "From Nehru to Modi, we have been fed assurances and now I am afraid I will not be able to see the doubling of the track between Saharsa and Mansi line which is nothing short of lifeline for the people in the region," he said....