Kamatibaug’s toy bullet train project has gone off the tracks

There was a lot of excitement and hype surrounding the toy bullet train project when the engine was brought in a few days earlier. But now it seems that we will have to put our dreams of traveling in an AC toy bullet train on hold.

This is because of the significant departure it had from the original contract for the Sayaji Express. Any changes in the original contract require the approval of the VMC committee, but in this case, the proposal to start the toy train was never brought to the committee’s notice. Members of the opposition party in the VMC have alleged that the signing of the project’s (MoU) Memorandum of Understanding has been surrounded by controversy.

Mr Bhupendra Seth, director of parks and gardens at VMC signed the contract himself and agreed to sign on the corrupt contractor without any clarification from the committee. Now Mr Seth has been immediately suspended. The contract was made in such a way that VMC would hardly benefit from the project but the contractor would earn a huge amount of money.

The decision to put the toy bullet train project on whole came on February 23, a day before the engine for the train arrived in the city. Now the toy bullet train will only start after it passes through all the procedural commitments. At present, the toy bullet train engine has been taken away from Kamatibaug garden.