Forest Department Principal Secretary Abhijit Das Gupta has recommended the government to drop the proposed Hubli-Ankola railway line project. Mr Gupta has written a letter to  the Infrastructure Development Department Principal Secretary V P Baligar saying that the project is not eco-friendly and hence it has to be dropped.

Talking to the press on Saturday, Dharwad North MP Prahlad Joshi said Mr Gupta had betrayed the people of the region by taking an unilateral decision , when there is no popular government in the State. Even the Governor, who was busy in ‘transfer business,’ had failed to protect interests of the State, he 
alleged.

The MP said the Governor had recently promised to call a meeting of people’s representatives to discuss and take a final decision on the Hubli-Ankola rail line. But he had failed to keep his word.

He said the Bharatiya Janata Party would launch a mass movement against the government’s decision to drop the dream project of the region.

Mr Joshi said he would take a delegation to the Governor to urge him to call a meeting of the people’s representatives immediately to discuss the issue.

He also said future course of action would be finalised only after discussing with the party senior leaders after the budget session. Accusing the State government of deliberately blocking the project, Mr Joshi stated that had the State government strove hard in pursuing the matter, the project would have been materialised by now. But it was sad that IAS officers like Mr Gupta were taking unilateral decisions on major issues, which should have otherwise been decided at the highest level.

The BJP would create awareness among people about the injustice meted out to the State, Mr Joshi said, and added that an appeal would be made to all the political parties to raise their voice against the injustice to the region in Hubli-Ankola railway line project.