BENGALURU: The Karnataka government on Tuesday assured the Railways of full support to acquire necessary land so that railway projects can be completed on time. According to an official release, the assurance was given by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa at a meeting at Vidhana Soudha, where Minister of State for Railways Suresh C Angadi said that many projects were not progressing due to land acquisition bottlenecks. MPs PC Mohan and Tejasvi Surya, Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav and Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar took part in the meeting.
“The government will extend all cooperation and support to complete ongoing and pending railway projects in the state at the earliest,” the CM assured. Land acquisition for railway projects in Tumakuru, Chitradurga and Davanagere would be completed shortly, while works in Hubballi-Hosapete, Hosapete-Ballari and Dharwad, and the acquisition of 12,781 acres of non-forest land would be speeded up, the CM added.
PC Mohan and MLA S Muniswamy said the new Whitefield-Kolar line, sanctioned in 2011-12, has not seen any progress because land acquisition was yet to be initiated. “The high price of land has posed a hurdle to acquire it for the project. Therefore, a revised proposal would be sent to the Ministry of Railways,” the release said.
New rly div for Kalaburagi
In a separate press release, the Railways said that a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for setting up a new Railway Division in Kalaburagi was being examined by a committee constituted for this purpose by the Railway Board. A survey was also being conducted by Rail India Technical & Economic Services (RITES) in connection with a workshop in Kolar, and the report was expected to be out by December-end, it added.
Tumkur MP GS Basavaraj said that the new Tumakuru-Chitradurga-Davanagere line was not progressing as only 6% of land was available so far. The Infrastructure Development Department chief secretary said that within the next six months, the land required for this project would be spared for the Railways. Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav stressed that only when the required land is available, could the project begin.
A senior official said the Shivamogga-Shikaripura-Ranibennur new line project, sanctioned this year, requires 1,300 acres of land. The state also wanted to proceed with the Chikkamagaluru-Belur portion of the Kadur-Chikkamagaluru-Belur-Sakleshpur line. “SWR will be giving them revised estimates,” the official said.