Long cherished dream of H-K region to come true

After missing several deadlines, the long cherished dream of the people of Hyderabad Karnataka region to travel in a train between Bidar and Kalaburagi will be realised on Sunday, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate the 110 km railway line to the nation.

With the commissioning of new line between Bidar and Kalaburagi, a new chapter will be written in the history of Railways as this is the second such major infrastructure project from the Railways realised in the region after a gap of 85 years.

The earlier project was conceived in 1932 during the rule of Nizams to connect Hyderabad with Parli via Bidar. It will reduce the travel time between the national capital New Delhi and major cities of southern India to a considerable extent. And it will also reduce travel time between Bidar and Bengaluru.

When the project was conceived in 1994, the estimated cost was around Rs 242.42 crore and when it reached to the commissioning stage the cost went up to Rs 1,542 crore.Financial approval was received in 1999 and actual work began on July 29, 2000, when then minister of state for railways Bangaru Laxman laid the foundation stone.

In the first phase, 37.20km between Bidar and Khanapur (junction) was finished. In the second phase, 16 km distance from Khanapur to Humanabad town was accomplished and the stretch between Bidar and Humanabad was readied on December 2013.

Much expected work for the third phase between Humanabad and Gulbarga which consists of 14 minor bridges, 13 over bridges, 54 under bridges and 183 small bridges and 1,700-metre tunnel near Margutti gained phase when Mallikarjun Kharge was the Union minister for railways. Former chief minister late Dharam Singh also played a key role in pursuing the project.

The stretch consists of 14 stations including Bidar, Khanapur (junction), Kanaji (H), Hallikhed (B), Nandgaon (H), Humanabad, Kallur Road, Hallikhed (H), Margotti (H), Kamalapur, Nawadgi (H), Kurukotta (H), Sultanpur and Gulbarga (junction).