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Railway budget disappoints Kodagu district

Train fails to chug off from Mysore to Kushalnagar
Last Updated 26 February 2013, 18:28 IST

The three decade-old demand for railway connectivity between Kushalnagar-Mysore has not been realised even in this budget.

With the survey work carried out last year, the people of the district were hoping for a railwayline and a train.

However, Kodagu remained away from the Indian railway map even in the maiden budget presented by Union Minister for Railways Pawan Kumar Bansal.

The budget did not make any announcement on the laying of Kushalnagar-Mysore railwayline, thus disappointing the farmers, entrepreneurs, coffee growers and floriculturists of the district.

The survey for railwayline between Kushlanagar and Mysore was flagged off by the then Union Minister of State for Railways K H Muniyappa on December 31, 2011. He had promised that the survey would be completed in three to four months and the work will be commence within 12 months of the survey.

The promises have remained only on paper. The survey was not carried out first time in the district. In the past, several surveys were carried out. However, the railway officials had dropped the proposal as the route was not economically viable. At the same time, environmentalists had opposed the proposal claiming that the route will harm environment.

Need for train service

Though Kodagu is a small district, it has been contributing a lot to the state exchequer. The number of tourists who visit the district are on rise every year. The railway connectivity will help the tourists to visit the district. The railway connectivity will promote tourism in the district. At the same time, coffee, pepper and cardamom grown in the district are exported. Flowers grown in the district are also exported. There is a great demand for flowers outside the district. The railway connectivity will help in the transportation of perishable commodities.

3 decade old demand

It was former chief minister Gundu Rao who had proposed the idea of Kushalnagar-Mysore railway connectivity way back in 1982. All the ministers have only be making promises of providing railway connectivity for the last 30 years. With the special interest shown by Kodagu-Mysore MP H Vishwanath, the re-survey work was taken up last year. An action plan of Rs 600 crore was prepared for laying a railwayline between Kushalnagar-Mysore and was submitted to Railway Board. However, the reports have been gathering dust over the years.

Kodagu Jilla Vanijyodhyama Sangha President Chidwilas said “we had expected a lot from the budget. Our dreams have been dashed to the ground.”

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(Published 26 February 2013, 18:28 IST)

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