Union Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi might have upset his boss, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, by raising passenger fare, but he did not disappoint Karnataka in his railway budget on Wednesday.
Trivedi announced a number of schemes for the State, though many of them went to Kolar district, the turf of his colleague K H Muniyappa.
Though the minister did not sanction any new lines in Karnataka as in many states, he said five new proposals - Dharwad-Belgaum line, Gadag-Haveri, Gadag-Wadi, Chikkaballapur-Puttaparthi and Srinivaspur-Madanapalli - have been sent to the Planning Commission for approval.
Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, who has a close rapport with Trivedi, recently requested him to sanction more projects for the State to increase the density of railway network from the current 17 km per 1,000 km of geographical area.
Trivedi, a former neighbour of Gowda, has sanctioned a “safety village” at Bangalore to train railway staff in disaster management and a coach factory at Kolar.
‘Bond’ bears fruit
Trivedi, before being elevated as Railway minister, was residing at No 181, South Avenue in Delhi, next to Sadananda Gowda’s while he was an MP. Gowda, on his first visit to Delhi after becoming the Chief Minister in August last year, had met Trivedi to request him to clear pending railway projects.
After the meeting, Gowda told reporters that he was confident that as a good neighbour, Trivedi would definitely have a soft corner for Karnataka in sanctioning projects. Their “bond” must have yielded fruit as Trivedi announced a Rs 608-crore outlay for completion of pending projects in the State in 2012-2013.
Of the ten new trains sanctioned for the State, the long pending demand of the people to have an exclusive train to Shirdi and Puri in Orissa was fulfilled with the announcement of Mysore-Sai Nagar Shirdi and Yeshvantpur-Puri Garib Rath trains.
Three more new trains like Mysore-Shravanabelagola, Mysore-Chamarajnagar and Mysore-Birur which run within the State will be a boon to people of the southern region.
AC train to Kerala
For the first time, a double-decker Express (daily) train will run between Chennai-Bangalore, while an AC express will be introduced between Yeshvanthpur-Kochuveli (weekly), said Trivedi. However, the state’s demand for a direct train to Haridwar and Varanasi were not met.
Doubling of Channapatna-Settihalli, Hanakere-Mandya, Mandya-Yeliyur and Nagamangala-Ajjampur lines are slated to be completed in 2012-13.
Defending the denial of new lines, Minister of State for Railways K H Muniyappa said priority was being given to complete ongoing projects before taking up new ones.
Though three new line surveys were announced, only Shimoga-Shikaripura-Ranebennur line may be feasible, while Haveri-Sirsi and the line connecting Dandeli to Hubli-Ankola may face environmental clearance hurdles. Hubli-Ankola line has been languishing for more than seven decades for want of forest ministry clearance.
Indeed, Muniyappa ensured clearance for some major projects for his home district (Kolar) like Kolar-Chintamani, Chikkaballapur-Shidlaghatta and Chintamani-Shidlaghatta gauge conversion.
Largesse
New trains to Karnataka:
10 trains ( 7 express and 3 passenger)
* Banglaore-Chennai (daily double-decker AC)
* Yeshvantpur-Kochiveli AC Express (weekly)
* Indore –Yeshvantpur Express weekly
* Puri-Yeshvantpur (Garib Rath)
* Mysore-Sai Nagar Shirdi Express (weekly)
* Solapur-Yeshvantpur Express (Tri-weekly)
* Bidar-Secunderabad intercity (6 days a weekly)
Passenger dailytrains: 3
* Mysore-Shravanabelagola
* Mysore-Chamarajanagar
* Mysore-Birur daily
New line Survey
* Shimoga-Shikaripura- Ranebennur
* Dandeli to Hubli-Ankola line
Other Highlights:
* 72 MW windmill to come up in Karnataka
* Safety village to train railway staff in disaster management at Bangalore
* Coach factory at Kolar
Gauge conversion work to be ready in 2012-13
* Chintamani -Siddlaghatta
New line project for completion in 2012-13
* Gulbarga-Sultanpur
* Raichur-Gadwal
* Cuddapah-Ganganapalli
