The Hindu : Mysore's needs ignored in Railway Budget

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 04, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Mysore's needs ignored in Railway Budget

By R. Krishna Kumar

Mysore March 3 . The saga of broken promises by successive Railway ministers continues to haunt the people of Mysore as evident from the latest Railway Budget.

Not surprisingly, there has been a muted response to the Railway Budget from key players in business, tourism, and service sectors in the city. It was only recently that assurances were given by senior officials in the Railway Board on the demands raised by elected representatives from Mysore.

None of the demands submitted by the team led by the MLA, A. Ramdas, which included members from the Mysore Agenda Task Force (MATF), has been fulfilled. The list included budgetary provision for doubling of railway track between Bangalore and Mysore, extension of the Hubli-Bangalore Jan Shatabdi Express and Secunderabad-Bangalore Kacheguda Express to Mysore, and introduction of direct services between Mysore and Howrah.

The delegation comprised the MATF Chairman, R. Guru, the General Secretary of the Hebbal Industrialists' Association, Suresh Kumar Jain, and the President of the Mysore IT Forum, M.N. Shivaram.

While Mr. Ramdas and other members of the BJP local unit met the Railway Minister, Nitish Kumar, and the Railway Board members in New Delhi some time ago, the other members submitted a memorandum to the senior officials from the Southern Railways, who were in the city recently.

The Railway Minister promised Mr. Ramdas that the work on improving rail connectivity between Mysore and Bangalore, introduction of new trains linking Mysore with other key centres in India, etc., would be accorded priority. But apart from Rs. five crore allocated for doubling of the track till Ramanagaram, the Railways choose to ignore the demands of Mr. Ramdas and others. But strangely, the delegation that submitted the memorandum is silent about the broken promises. Mr. Ramdas issued a press release "welcoming" the budget on the grounds that "Karnataka was not ignored".

The key demand of the region is the doubling of railway track between Mysore and Bangalore, which will reduce the commuting time to less than two hours. The railway corridor is reckoned to be the key to the development of Mysore with tourism as its fulcrum.

Though Mysore is a major tourism centre and a boost to tourism can pep up the related ancillary industries, the city has neither the Centre's nor the State's support that is critical for the local economy. And this includes the socio-economic development of the hinterland encompassing Mandya and Chamarajanagar districts.

According to analysts, the service sector, be it tourism or other ancillary industries, generates the maximum employment opportunities, and this is closely linked to high-speed connectivity between two important commercial centres. In this case, Mysore can stand to benefit from improved transportation links to Bangalore.

Hence, hopes were reposed in the Railway Budget for 2003-04 in expectation of greater allocation towards completion of the project. The doubling of railway track between the two cities is estimated to cost nearly Rs. 220 crore while an additional Rs. 230 crore can facilitate electrification of the lines.

But there is a silver lining to the issue as the Railways has accepted in principle that doubling of tracks between the two cities is a necessity. This is obvious from the allocations made for doubling the track till Ramanagaram that can be extended up to Mysore. The project is important to not only reduce the travelling time between the two cities but also reduce the regional imbalance in southern Karnataka. Expert groups have pointed out that doubling of the line will boost the economy of Mysore-Mandya-Chamarajanagar region and increase the benefit to the Government in terms of higher tax yield. The population along the stretch is likely to double before 2011 and the existing carrying capacity of the rail and road transportation system between the two cities needs to be augmented. Hence, there is a sense of urgency among the key players in tourism and industry to fulfil the demand of the people in the region. But these demands, perceived to be genuine, continue to be ignored.

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