The Hindu : Rly. project: Sasanur to lead team to Nitish

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 11, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Rly. project: Sasanur to lead team to Nitish

By Our Staff Reporter

Bangalore April 10. An all-party delegation, led by the Minister for Agricultural Marketing, B.S.Patil Sasanur, will meet the Railway Minister, Nitish Kumar, and request him to immediately release Rs. 165 crore for completing the Bijapur-Bagalkot-Gadag broadgauge conversion work.

Speaking to presspersons after meeting the Chief Minister, S.M.Krishna, where he was requested to take up the matter with the Railway Minister, Mr. Sasanur said the agitation by the Solapur-Gadag Broadgauge Struggle Committee entered the 38th day on Thursday. While, the Bijapur-Solapur part of the work had been completed in record time, work on the Bijapur-Bagalkot-Gadag section was delayed, he said.

Thanking Mr. Krishna for releasing the State Government's share of Rs.10 crore for the work, the minister, who was accompanied by the committee President, Ghanashyam R.Toshniwal, the Minister for Planning, R.B.Thimmapur, S.R.Patil, MLC, G.T.Patil, MLA, and other legislators, said the area under the Bijapur-Bagalkot-Gadag section had not witnessed any development.

Initially Mr. Krishna was asked to lead the delegation, but since he was preoccupied, the Chief Minister asked him to lead it, Mr. Sasanur said.

The Minister of State for Infrastructure, T.John, and the State's representative in Delhi, T.B.Jayachandra, would be in the delegation.

Mr. S.R.Patil said that in the 1993-94 Railway Budget the Solapur-Gadag gauge conversion work was included, and Rs. 180 crore was allocated to it the next year. The amount was revised to Rs. 274.57 crore, and Rs.107.16 crore was spent. The work was planned to be completed by December 2000. But between 1999-2003 only Rs. 47 crore was spent on the project.

The leaders alleged that the State Government had released more than its share for the work, but the Railway Ministry had not shown interest in completing it. They warned that the agitation would be intensified if justice was not done by the Centre.

Our Bijapur Staff Correspondent reports:

Leaders spearheading the agitation for the early completion of the gauge conversion work received a letter threatening them with dire consequences if they did not call off the agitation by April 15.

The letter, which was handed over to the police, contained a threat that the tent erected near Gandhi Chowk would be set on fire.

It accused the samiti leaders such as Mr. Toshniwal, Vishwanath Bhavi, Kanteerava Kullolli, Sridhar Kulkarni, Appasaheb Yarnal, and Mannusab Kaladagi of criticising the Union Minister of State for Textiles, Basanagouda R. Patil Yatnal. The letter was signed by `R.Y.Patil Yarnal'. Sources said that initial investigation had revealed that there no person by that name.

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