Date:05/07/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/07/05/stories/2009070553660400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Rs. 346 crore more sanctioned for rail projects: Muniyappa

Special Correspondent

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

ON TRACK: K.H. Muniyappa, Minister of State for Railways, addressing a press conference in Bangalore on Saturday. Akhil Agarwal (right), Divisional Railway Manager, and Ravi Valluri (left), Additional Divisional Railway Manager, South Western Railway, are with him.

BANGALORE: The Minister of State for Railways K.H. Muniyappa on Saturday claimed credit for getting Rs. 346-crore more this year for completing the ongoing rail projects such as Talaguppa-Shimoga, Kottur-Harihar, track doubling works on the outskirts of Bangalore and for taking up survey of nine new lines including one electrification project covering a distance of 1,104 km in the State.

Mr. Muniyappa told presspersons that work on the 97-km Shimoga-Talaguppa project would be completed in one year.

The Kottur-Harihar line would be ready by March. For this, the State Government has to give its share of Rs. 100 crore.

The Minister said the Railways was getting an annual income of Rs. 3,035 crore from the State in terms of passenger and freight traffic as against its expenditure of around Rs. 700 crore.

Of Rs. 543.36 crore for the on-going projects, the new lines would get Rs. 202.58 crore, gauge conversion Rs. 98.06 crore, doubling work Rs. 231.24 crore and electrification of Guntakal-Gooty-Bangalore section Rs. 11.48 crore.

The 12.07-km Yeshwantpur-Yelahanka line would be given Rs. 27.23 crore and the 12.89-km Yelahanka-Chennasandra line Rs. 37.82 crore.

Mr. Muniyappa said he was holding discussions with the Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh for clearance to some projects in the State as the matter was before the high power committee appointed by the Supreme Court.

Mr. Muniyappa said the delay in land acquisition and survey was coming in the way of completing the railway projects and would shortly hold a meeting with Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.

The Bidar-Gulbarga line is delayed owing to land acquisition.

Terming the criticism by Mr. Yeddyurappa and H.N. Ananth Kumar, MP, that the United Progressive Alliance Government had not favoured the State with more railway projects as “politically motivated”, Mr. Muniyappa said that for 10 years, Karnataka did not get higher allocation.

It was the Congress-led UPA Government which allocated Rs. 1,026 crore in the budget as compared to Rs. 680 crore last year, he added.

The Minister said that the Bangalore-Mangalore day train could not be started due to road safety problems and it would be introduced within a month.

About the Bangalore-Mysore doubling work, Mr. Muniyappa said that around Rs. 80 crore had been spent on Mysore-Ramanagaram stretch.