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Mysuru: Railway line dream of Kodagu people shattered again
Railway connectivity to Kodagu is a dream of thousands of people in the district. Despite assurances by the elected representatives the project still remains on paper.
Mysuru: Railway connectivity to Kodagu is a dream of thousands of people in the district. Despite assurances by the elected representatives the project still remains on paper.
In a setback to the project, the company which has bagged the contract to conduct final location survey has abandoned the work. The railway authorities now have initiated the process of inviting fresh tender from firms to conduct the final location survey (FLO).
Bengaluru-based Aerial Construction Private Ltd was awarded the work six months back for Rs 1.26 crore through competitive bidding to conduct FLO. The company did not do any work citing rain as the reason. After rains stopped the company has informed the railways its decision to exit the project.
It's back to square one as tender process takes at least six months. A year ago, Hyderabad-based Mata Construction and Builders Limited was given the work, but it left without doing anything. The demand for railway connectivity goes back to decades. But neither the UPA nor the NDA governments did nothing to fulfil the dream of the people the only district in Karnataka without railway connectivity.
Former Railway Minister V Muniyappa had in 2009 promised
88-km railway line from Mysore to Kushalanagar. he also
ordered for survey work. The news made headlines at that time raised the hopes of Kodagu people of their dream coming true very soon. According to the proposal, both State and central governments were to bear 50 percent of the cost of the project each. The then State government led by B S Yeddyurappa was keen to implement the project.
During Lok Sabha elections in 2014, Kodagu-Mysuru MP Pratap Simha promised the voters that he would bring train to Kodagu if he was elected. After winning the election, he even declared that he would not to seek votes in the next election if he failed to fulfil the promise. He again contested Lok Sabha election in 2019 and won by assuring the voters that the project was under progress. But his promise proved to be writing on water.
The project was estimated to cost Rs 1,657 crore five year back which surely go up by several times now.
From the beginning, it has been jinxed as the railway department initially abandoned it as unviable. However, under pressure from local politicians, the railways took up the project. When The Hans India tried to contact Pratap Simha for his response, he did not take the call.
The railway line, implemented, would benefit thousands of people working in different parts of the country. The district, though the smallest in Karnataka in terms of size, produces more than 30 percent of countries coffee. A railway line would help producers transport coffee to the nearest port at economicical freight charges apart from reducing vehicular traffic on Mysuru- Kushalanagara road.
