Shettar to take up with State govt. delay in land acquisition for rail line

BJP MP Jagadish Shettar will take up with the State government the issue of delay in land acquisition for the new Belagavi-Kittur-Hubballi railway line.

The MP told railway officials in Hubballi on Monday that he has already discussed the issue with officials of the district administration. He said that efforts will be made to draw the State government’s attention to expedite the process.

He was speaking at a review meeting with South Western Railway General Manager K. Ananth and other railway officials to assess the status of several pending railway infrastructure projects in the Belagavi Lok Sabha Constituency.

Officers said that the Belagavi-Kittur-Dharwad new railway line project has been delayed as the State government is yet to hand over the required land to South Western Railway.

As much as 1,430 acres have been identified for acquisition for the route. However, acquisition has been delayed in some patches and compensation for farmers is yet to be distributed, while the land has not been transferred to the Railways.

Mr. Shettar said that the proposed Belagavi-Parkanatti-Gokak-Yadwad railway line is important for industrial development of the region. He said that several cement industries and sugar factories operate in the region. He instructed railway officials to submit afresh a proposal to the Railway Board based on public and industrial demand.

He offered to take up the matter with the Railway Minister.

There has been a long-pending demand for the Lokapura-Ramdurg-Savadatti-Dharwad line, the MP said. He said that nearly two crore devotees visited the Sri Renukadevi temple at Savadatti annually and they will benefit from such a route.

He suggested that a survey for the route be taken up as a first step with an estimated survey cost of ₹70 lakh requiring Railway Board approval.

Officials informed him that the proposal has already been under consideration with the Railway Board. The MP asked them to follow it up.

He expressed concern over the slow pace of development works in Belagavi and Ghataprabha railway stations being upgraded under the PM Amrit Bharat Station scheme. The South Western Railway General Manager then instructed officials to speed up execution of the works.

Railway officials said that they will examine a proposal for developing Sambra and Desur railway stations as alternative terminals to Belagavi Railway Station.

Officials informed the MP that services connected to Secunderabad, Hyderabad and Charlapalli will be operated from Belagavi. He asked them to explore restarting railway services between Belagavi and Manuguru.

Officers said that a proposal for a train between Bengaluru and Mumbai via Belagavi is under consideration by the Railway Ministry and it is expected to receive approval soon.

The MP urged the authorities to introduce a new Belagavi-Londa-Goa train service, as there has been a long-pending demand for improving regional connectivity.