Tuesday 27 January 2015

The inordinate delay on the part of the State government to release its share of cost appears to be the main reason for the delay in completing the 11-year-old Kalaburagi-Bidar new railway line, which would open up new vistas of development for this underdeveloped region as well as reduce the travelling time and distance between Bengaluru and New Delhi.

The Kalaburagi-Bidar new railway line was one of the earliest cost-sharing projects taken up in the State. The revised cost of the project was Rs. 845.15 crore.

The share of the State government was Rs. 422.075 crore and the share of the Railways was Rs. 422.075 crore.

The delay on the part of the State government to acquire the land required for construction of the new railway line, particularly in Kalaburagi district and the non-release of State’s share of funds is cited as the reasons for the delay in completing the project.

Sources in the South Central Railway told The Hindu in Kalaburagi on Sunday that while the Railways had already spent Rs. 404 crore out of the its share, the State government had so far released only Rs. 290 crore.

Another Rs. 132.075 crore had to be released by the government this year. Sources said that the work of the Kalaburagi-Bidar railway track was carried out on a fast track mode and the delay on the part of the State had held up the payment of dues to contractors.

The Ministry of Railways had provided a budgetary grant of Rs. 100 crore for the project for the year 2014-15 and the State government had released Rs. 60 crore to the project this year and “the entire amount of both the budgetary allocation and the State government’s share had been spent”.

Sources said that if there was no further delay in release of funds on the part of the State government and if the remaining funds required to complete the project are provided in the Railway Budget, the project, which was started way back in 2003, for laying a new railway line of 110.40 km in lenght, including a tunnel of 1.7 km near Margutti in Kalaburagi district, would be completed by December, 2016.

Source: The Hindu

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