VIJAYAWADA: Lack of funding from the State government is the major hurdle for the ongoing railway projects in Andhra Pradesh, South Central Railway (SCR) General Manager Gajanan Mallya has said.
Mallya was speaking at a meeting with parliamentarians under the SCR at the Electric Traction Training Centre here on Thursday. Fifteen MPs from ruling YSRC participated in the meeting. While TDP MPs Kesineni Srinvas and Galla Jayadev, who are representing Vijayawada and Guntur parliament constituencies respectively, skipped the meeting, TDP Rajya Sabha MP K Ravindra Kumar participated in the meeting.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Mallya said that a series of meetings were held with the representatives of state government for the release of funds to expedite the ongoing railway projects such as Nadikudi-Srikalahasthi and Kadapa-Bengaluru line works in the state. “We hope the state government will release the pending funds soon to expedite the ongoing infrastructure projects,” he said.
Mallya further said that SCR is running 100 per cent of mail/express trains originating in its jurisdiction and more than 1/3rd of the passenger services. “Doubling works of Guntur-Guntakal are progressing fast. Vijayawada-Bhimavaram, Gudivada-Machilipatnam doubling with electrification has been completed and doubling and electrification of Nidadavolu-Narasapur line is also in the final stages of completion.Third line works of 30-km Vijayawada-Gudur have been completed and works in another stretch of 60 kms are in progress,” the SCR GM said.
Meanwhile, YSRC MPs said the state government is committed to the completion of ongoing railway projects. YSRC MPs M Bharat, Vanga Geeta, Gorantla Madhava and L Sri Krishnadevarayalu appealed to the SCR officials to expedite the establishment of a new railway zone in the state, which is one of the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act-2014.
“We requested the railway officials not to stall the ongoing infrastructure projects citing fund delay from the state government and demanded a speedy completion of Kovvur-Bhadrachalam and Nadikudi-Srikalahasti railway lines,” MP M Bharath said. Speaking on the occasion, Ravindra Kumar said that railway officials should not only focus on beautification but also expedite the ongoing infrastructure projects.
He pointed out that Nadikudi-Srikalahasti 309.km line works have been halted due to non-payment of `1,351 crore state share. Kadapa - Bangalore works are pending due to lack of funds from the state government. Kotipalli-Narsapur works were stopped due to non-payment of the state share, the TDP MP said. He said only `2.69 crore was deposited as state share for the project.