Project part of track doubling work on Ramanagaram-Mysore route

A sum of  Rs 40 crore will be spent for construction of 37.7 meter long bridge over Cauvery North and another of equal length over Cauvery South. The bridge will pass through the track alignment between the Pandavapura and Naganahalli stations. The project forms part of the Rs 497-crore doubling work of the 94 km track in between Ramanagaram and Mysore.

Inaugurating the project Union Minister of State for Railways K H Muniyappa said that steps will be taken to improve connectivity to Srirangapatna, the tourist spot with the tag of International Heritage Centre. The project entails construction of 324 bridges including 58 major ones and the work would be completed within two years. A sum of Rs 112.80 crore has been released for the Bangalore-Mysore track doubling, he revealed.
Old bridges

Pointing out that old railway bridges ended up in a state of disuse after construction of new ones, Muniyappa said that both Railway and PWD officials will be asked to inspect dilapidated bridges and deploy them for constructive purposes. “Railway property is generally not provided to other agencies. But we will consider if they can be handed over to the State government,” the minister said.

Mandya district In-charge and Medical Education Minister, Ramachandra Gowda said that the State would be incurring an expenditure of Rs 14,000 crore towards relief work in North Karnataka and hence the Railways need to consider increasing its share of funding for various projects. The government has so far released Rs 554.73 crore for railway projects in the State, he divulged.  

Gowda appealed to the Railway Minister to sanction a Railway Over Bridge near Mandya to provide easy access to the nearby sugar factory. “There is a need to increase the period of reservation of train tickets in Mandya from the existing six hours to 12 hours,” he felt.  

MP interrupted

Residents of Palahalli interrupted MP Cheluvarayaswamy while he was delivering speech, demanding a stoppage for the passenger trains passing through their village.

Six passenger trains run daily stopping at nearby smaller stations but without halting in Palahalli, a village with a population of 10,000, they alleged. “The trains used to halt earlier but stopped six years ago after the track was converted to broad gauge,” said S Linganna, former ZP president. They had staged road rokos twice in the past and their plan to hold another protest on November 18 was cancelled following assurance from the Railway Minister.