The Union Tourism Ministry is actively considering a proposal by Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL) to develop six railway stations in its network, including four in Karnataka, under the Assistance to Central Agencies for Tourism Infrastructure Development Scheme.
In a recent letter to Shivamogga MP B.Y. Raghavendra, Union Tourism Minister G. Kishna Reddy said the proposal from KRCL for development of Udupi, Mookambika Road Byndoor, Murdeshwar and Gokarna Road Railway Stations in Karnataka and Kudal and Ratnagiri in Maharashtra was under Ministry’s consideration. Financial assistance may be granted under relevant scheme after perusing the proposal in due course, he said.
KRCL had submitted a proposal with detailed project report for Central Financial Assistance to Konkan Railway for tourism infrastructure development at six of its stations in September 2019. It had pegged the cost at ₹22.74 crore for Udupi, 9.97 crore for Byndoor, 3.62 crore for Murdeshwar and 6.12 crore for Gokarna Road Railway Station, all catering to important tourism destinations.
While Udupi catered to temple tourism of Sri Krishna Mutt and surrounding places, including Pajaka and health/education tourism at Manipal, Byndoor catered to temple tourism of Kollur Mookambika Temple and beach tourism at Byndoor and Maravanthe and Murdeshwar as well as Gokarna Road too catered to temple tourism.
Mr. Raghavendra in his reminder to Mr. Reddy said the four railway stations in Karnataka proposed for development were attracting thousands of tourists and their development would add to the numbers. Byndoor in his constituency not only caters to the Mookambika Temple, Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary including Kodachadri Mountain, but also caters to the tourists visiting Maravanthe beach being developed by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. In such a situation, it would be prudent to develop the Railway Stations to attract more and more tourists, the MP said.
Responding to Tourism Ministry’s gesture, Kunjal Venkatesh Kini, president of Byndoor Rail Yatri Sangha and former member of National Railway Users’ Consultative Committee who was instrumental in the proposals being taken up, expressed his happiness. He urged the Ministry to sanction the funds at the earliest to undertake the development works. The recently completed Railway Electrification along the KRCL network would only add to the development of these stations, he told The Hindu.
