JOIN US#ChukuBukuBeku helps Suburban Rail Project chug along
The long wait for the suburban railway project has finally arrived at its threshold of initiation.The Railway Board on Monday approved the revised Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the long-pending Bengaluru suburban rail project estimated to cost around Rs 16,035 crore.
The follow-up meeting was held in New Delhi on Monday. The one-hour long meeting ended with the Extended Railway Board giving clearance to the Suburban Rail Project. Railway Board officials are to visit Bengaluru today to discuss matters with Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.
Many citizen groups expressed the urgency of the matter on Twitter. Citizens for Bengaluru- an activist group, started a Twitter Campaign and urged other users to tweet with the hashtag #ChukuBukuBeku. #ModaluTrainBeku, #BengaluruSuburbanTrain, and #SuburbanRailNow are other hashtags used by Twitter users to propel the movement.
While drawing comparisons to the current state of Delhi, coordinator of Citizens for Bengaluru Shilpa Rao had claimed that Bengaluru isn’t far away and demanded immediate attention to the situation.
Bengaluru is Delhi in making! Stop the city from choking, give us trains, reduce congestion on ORR#ChukubukuBeku#BengaluruSuburbanTrain@PiyushGoyal @amitabhk87 @HardeepSPuri @nsitharaman @PCMohanMP @rajeevgowda @rajeev_mp @Tejasvi_Surya @BSYBJP @dineshgrao @siddaramaiah pic.twitter.com/FO6RFCZG9Q
— Shilpa Rao (@shilgiri_rao) November 4, 2019
Also arguing a point that all major cities have suburban rails except Bengaluru, co-founder of Citizens for Bengaluru, Srinivas Alavilli tweeted:
Mumbai has double the population of Bengaluru.
— Srinivas Alavilli (@srinualavilli) November 4, 2019
But half the vehicles?
Why?
What crime did Bengaluru commit to not deserve a suburban train system?#ChukuBukuBeku #ModaluTrainBeku @citizensforblr poster from October 2016 pic.twitter.com/9t81qUiLeD
After the approval from the Extended Railway Board on Monday, the MP of Bengaluru, PC Mohan, tweeted:
Great news for Bengaluru: The Extended Railway Board met today & has given clearance #Bengaluru #SubUrbanRail project.
— P C Mohan (@PCMohanMP) November 4, 2019
I’m extremely grateful to Railway Minister @PiyushGoyal and @SureshAngadi_ for making Bengaluru’s dream a reality!
Following the announcement, citizens shared their relief on the long-awaited approval on Twitter.
The efforts of the Citizens for Bengaluru and their Twitter campaign have played an important role, according to Percy Pinto.
Constant pressure from all at team #ChukuBukuBeku @citizensforblr and many others has made the suburban train project a reality. Congratulations guys... https://t.co/EhJLKUD536
— Percy Pinto (@larinani) November 5, 2019
Pradeep T Sridhar thanked the government for taking a step towards the development of Bengaluru.
Thank you @PCMohanMP ... Last few more steps to finally realise the long pending requirement of Bengaluru. This will surely go a long way towards effective public transport in our city.. looking fwd for @narendramodi to lay foundation for #Suburban in Bng ..
— Pradeep T Sridhar (@pradeepts181) November 4, 2019
Harsha J K hopes for positive impact with the project.
Hoping for this initiative to reduce the traffic and pollution by mass adoption of public transportation.
— Harsha J K (@harshajk41) November 4, 2019
Though the majority of Bengalureans are happy about the latest news, few have expressed their apprehensions regarding the execution of the plan.
According to Tara Krishnaswamy, another co-founder of Citizens For Bengaluru, it has already been too long.
This is a key milestone for #SubUrbanRail but it needs to move from hope and dream to underway and reality. Until then we are still 30 years late and ticking #BengaluruSuburbanRail #ChukuBukuBeku #BengaluruTraffic to #BusProorityLanes all depend on this. https://t.co/qtCDUXQ9o4
— Tara (@tarauk) November 5, 2019
Vikas Maurya is skeptical until he sees results.
Let’s wait and watch.. it’s just one more step.. not sure how many more hurdles are still there before something can really be seen on the ground
— Vikas Maurya (@vikas_pg) November 4, 2019
Though the suburban railway is expected to be fully operational by 2026, people have waited too long and are doubtful about the completion of the project.
The activist group, Namma Bengaluroo, demands clarity for the progress of the project.
@CMofKarnataka @BSYBJP @DVSadanandGowda @Tejasvi_Surya @rajeev_mp
— Namma Bengaluroo (@NammaBengaluroo) November 4, 2019
For last several years, every few weeks we hear this euphoria #suburbanrail is coming.
Can we get a clear date for remaining clearances .
Else it is just feeing good tonight and bitter tomorrow mrng 🙏
Whitefield Woes insists on fixed dates
Good news Sir. In your next tweet, please tell the whole world ‘START DATE & END DATE’. You will see millions of happy 😊 faces.
— Whitefield Woes (@wf_watcher) November 5, 2019
(Compiled by Farheen Khamar & Ridhika Manoj)