Gadag-Wadi rail line gets green clearance

The MoEF has cleared the proposal by the railways to acquire 40 acres of forest land for construction of new line between Gadag and Wadi.

Seven years after the project was sanctioned by the Railway Board, construction of the 257 km railway line has remained a big challenge due to multiple hurdles. The ambitious project is expected to provide public transport connecting four districts to the financial nerve centre of north
Karnataka.

In its recent meeting, the regional empowered committee of Bengaluru has approved the proposal by the South Western Railways, noting that the forest land falls in the arid zone of Karnataka with a moderate canopy density (0.1). In return, the railways has been told to submit a plan for tree planting in the surroundings of the proposed railway station in the forest area and along the railway line in lie of the trees felled. Additionally, compensatory afforestation has to be carried out in degraded forest, it said.

The new line, estimated to cost Rs 1922 crore, was sanctioned in 2014-15. It will connect four districts - Koppal, Raichur, Yadgir and Kalaburagi. The line involves construction of Talkal, situated 39 km from Gadag, to Wadi and passes through Yelburga, Kushtagi, Mudgal, Lingasgur, Sholapur and Shahpur.

A senior official in the SWR said the green signal for forest land acquisition has come as a major relief but said more problems have come up in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis. “Land acquisition is the major problem. The chief secretary has been taking up the issue with the deputy commissioners in almost every meeting. We are still finding it difficult to execute first two phases of the project,” the senior official said.

The Phase 1 of the project involves 57 km line from Koppal while the 47-km Phase 2 stretch starts from the other end. Compensation is yet to be given to farmers in some parts, which had made the work challenging. “If the government provides land, we could have completed the project in two years. We don’t know how the financial crisis brought by Covid-19 will affect the projects,” another official said.