The Railways and the State government have decided to spend an additional Rs 600 crore in the current fiscal year to expedite and complete long-pending railway projects in the State, Union Railway Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge said on Monday.
Briefing reporters after a meeting with senior officials of the Railways and the State government, he said the Railways and the State government had agreed to spend Rs 300 crore each to speed up the pending projects and complete them by December this year. This will be over and above what has been already allotted in the budgets of the Railways and the State government.
These projects include Kadur-Chikmagalur, Kolar-Chikkaballapur, Gadwal-Raichur, Bidar-Gulbarga, Bangalore-Hassan and Gulbarga-Hutagi.
These projects have suffered delays for long due to various reasons, including land acquisition problem. The State government has promised to solve all these problems and pave the way for their early completion, he said.
The government has promised to solve the problem of acquisition of about two acres of land required for the Kadur-Chikmagalur project in three months. The project will be completed by November this year.
The Kolar-Chikkaballapur project is also facing a minor problem of land acquisition. The target has now been fixed to complete it by December, he added.
The Bidar-Gulbarga project has been pending for many years. Directions have been issued to complete the project from Gulbarga to Humnabad in three months. If the State government provides land, the Kottur-Harihara project will be completed in three months, he promised.
The Archaeological Survey of India has given the green signal for shifting Tippu's armoury near Srirangapatna. Once it is done, Ramanagar-Mysore doubling project will be completed at the earliest. The Railways is committed to set up a railway coach factory in Kolar. The project will be taken up once the government gives the land, he said.
Gulbarga division
Asked whether he will carve out a separate division for the Gulbarga region in the Railways, he said he had directed officials to prepare a feasibility report in this regard.
“The Railways had some years ago said creating a separate Gulbarga division was not feasible. But, I have asked the officials to once again prepare the report,” he said.
Asked whether he will seek supplementary budgetary allocations for the Railways, the Minister said his focus is now on speeding up the ongoing projects.
“We have very less time now. Projects have to be completed in eight to nine months,” he stated.
On the proposal to introduce a commuter rail network for Bangalore, Kharge said he will examine whether it is feasible.
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