With the key demands of railway commuters from coastal Karnataka finding no mention in the Railway Budget, disappointment was in the air in the districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada on Wednesday.
Railway commuters' organisations from the districts had a hope that the Railways would at least consider splitting the night train between Yeshwanthpur and Kannur at Mangalore and divert few of the coaches to Karwar thereby providing connectivity to the town with the State's capital. The other key demands placed by the West Coast Rail Yathri Development Committee included increasing the frequency of day train from Yeshwanthpur to Mangalore from thrice a week to daily and ensuring that the work regarding developing Mangalore into World-class railway station began. An announcement in this regard was made two years ago.
‘Upset'
The Committee chairman Hanumanth Kamath told The Hindu that the MPs from the State, who included four Union Ministers, had failed to put up a united show to seek justice for the State as far as State's demands were concerned.
He was upset that the MPs, unlike those from Kerala, were busy more in politics, than in getting benefits for the people. He said the four Union Ministers – M. Veerappa Moily, K.H. Muniyappa, S.M. Krishna and Mallikarjun Kharge — should resign owning moral responsibility for this.
He noted that Mr. Moily, had in an interaction with presspersons, had claimed in Mangalore that he had taken the issues to Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, he wondered why no key facility had been announced for coastal Karnataka. Though Moily is elected from Chikballapur, he is from Dakshina Kannada, Mr. Kamath pointed out.
The Committee's convenor Anil Hedge described the budget as a “total disappointment”. The long-standing demand for introduction of train to Bijapur from Mangalore should have been considered, he said.
Rajeev Gaonkar Hiregutti, a Karwar-based activist and vice-president of the committee, said what coastal Karnataka had got in the budget was “absolutely zero.”
He said the activists, who had secured an order from the High Court regarding the extension of the night train from Yeshwanthpur to Karwar was left with no option but to continue the fight in High Court.
Not considered
The people from Karwar wanted a train to Karwar from Hubli via Madgaon as large number of people commute between the two destinations, but this has not been considered despite the assurances given to this effect.
The activists pointed out that the extension of Mangalore-Palakkad Express to Coimbatore and Mangalore-Thiruvanthapuram Express to Nagercoil could hardly benefit the commuters from coastal Karnataka. It would benefit commuters in Kerala, they said.
The announcements of a survey for electrification of Mysore-Hassan-Mangalore line has hardly enthused the commuters. So is the case with Mangalore-Chennai train (12685/86) the frequency of which has been increased from six days to seven days a week. Only announcement that could benefit people here is the new Thirunelveli-Dadar train via Konkan Railway.
