Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

Railways plans 81 road overbridges in State

By Our Staff Reporter

NELLORE MARCH 22. In view of a large number of unmanned/manned level-crossings all over the country, the Railways has decided to construct road overbridges (ROBs) in 558 places, said the Union Minister of State for Railways, Bandaru Dattatreya.

Addressing a public meeting in the Kovur railway gate area here on Saturday, after laying the foundation for an ROB, the Minister said there were 38,341 level-crossings -- 16,459 manned and 21,792 unmanned -- all over the country, which posed a danger for commuters and public. Accordingly, the Railways had decided to provide ROBs at these places in a phased manner.

Andhra Pradesh would have 81 ROBs for which Rs. 45 crores had been sanctioned, whereas the overall allocation was Rs. 313 crores. The expenditure would, however, have to be shared between the Railways and the State Government.

The Minister promised to beautify Nellore station, by having an additional platform and a booking station, for which Rs. 2 crores had been earmarked.

He said the Jana Satabdi Express fares were reduced by 5 per cent following reports that it was not having sufficient occupancy rate.

Mr. Dattatreya said track works relating to Katpadi, Pakala and Tirupati would be expedited. In keeping with his earlier promise to have a direct train to Bangalore via Nellore, three more trains from Bhubaneswar, Haldia and Muzzafarnagar would be introduced. He promised that the Seshadri Express would also be stopped at Nellore.

The MP and BJP chief, M. Venkaiah Naidu, said a high-level team from the Union Environment and Forest Ministry had visited Nellore to explore the possibility of containing pollution across the Pennar river.

Earlier a team from the Sports Authority of India had visited the town. The BJP Chief pointed that the Indian Railways had made tremendous progress and it was record that this year it had introduced 50 new trains.

He appealed to the Minister,to revive the past glory of Bitragunta Locoshed near Nellore.

He made a reference to delimitation exercise all over the country and asserted that neither he nor his family members were interested in contesting the elections.

The Information Minister, S. Chandramohan Reddy, referred to the rapid strides which A.P. had made in respect of laying of roads.

The M.P. Rajeswaramma, the legislator, A. Prabhakara Reddy, the Municipal Chairperson, T. Anuradha, and others spoke.

Earlier, Mr. Dattatreya laid the foundation for an ROB at Ayyappagudi gate to be constructed at a cost of Rs. 8.28 crores, out of which the share of the Railways would be Rs. 3.71 crores and the rest had to be borne by State Government. The ROB at the Kovur gate would cost Rs. 28.06 crores and the Railway share would be Rs. 13.45 crores.

The General Manager, SCR, S.M. Singla, welcomed the gathering. Later the Minister visited the Bitragunta Loco Shed and inaugurated the computerised reservation system at Kavali.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Cong. MLAs' bid to storm CM's chambers
• New lease of life for erstwhile REC
• Railways plans 81 road overbridges in State

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu