After receiving a barrage of allegations about substandard work and failure to prevent encroachments of railway land by the South Western Railway (SWR), Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel has decided to personally inspect the stretch in the district.
Presiding over a review meeting of railway works in the district on Thursday, Mr. Kateel directed officials to ask the divisional railway manager of Mysuru division of SWR to be present on July 22 when he makes the inspection. He was responding to allegations of poor work made by Laxminarayana, a resident of Bantwal.
According to Mr. Laxminarayana, though Bantwal station was provided with a new platform and shelters recently, the work was of substandard quality. Staff quarters are in a dilapidated condition and are being used for illegal activities, he said. As are the station premises at night, he added.
Mr. Laxminarayana said that all along the track stretch between Padil and Subrahmanya Road in the district, railway land has been encroached upon and the SWR has “turned a blind eye”. He said the sand mafia was using the encroached land to dump sand even as illegal fish and mutton stalls have grabbed railway land in the old Farangipet railway station premises.
At Yedamangala railway station between Bantwal and Kabaka Puttur, people find it difficult to cross the railway track as goods trains remain berthed on the tracks, he said.
Mangaluru region
Mr. Kateel also asked Southern Railway to set right anomalies in Mangaluru region, including the implementation of tri-lingual policy. This too was based on charges made by Mr. Laxminarayana, who said not many Kannada-speaking people work in the front counters of railway stations at Mangaluru Central and Junction.
He said both stations lacked electronic coach display boards, adequate RPF security, and vehicle and baggage scanning machines. He alleged that parcels were loaded on trains at Mangaluru Junction without being weighed.
