The Railway Board has broken its silence on the establishment of a new Railway Zone in Andhra Pradesh but only to keep the people of Andhra Pradesh guessing about it. It continues to be indecisive on the proposed zone more than a year after bifurcation.
Top officials of the South Central Railway (SCR) have so far played the cards close to their chest by merely saying that the issue was under examination at the highest level. In a press release on Wednesday following media reports that the new Railway zone at Visakhapatnam has been ruled out, the SCR clarified that a committee of senior officers who studied feasibility and other aspects of the zone submitted its report but were asked to consult all the stakeholders.
Action was being taken in that regard. No final decision has been taken on the matter, SCR Chief Public Relations Officer M. Uma Sankar Kumar stated in the press release.
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It was reported in a section of the media that Railway Board has ruled out establishment of the new zone at Visakhapatnam as taking it out from the purview of Bhubaneswar-based East Coast Railway would make a huge dent in its revenues.
The media reports also suggested that the new zone itself was not feasible.
It is pertinent to mention here that Visakhapatnam MP K. Haribabu has time and again claimed that the zone headquarters was bound to be established in the port city even as SCR officials maintained that the issue was under examination.
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There were demands from Visakhapatnam and also Vijayawada that the zone should be set up in the respective cities.
A provision has been made for it under Schedule Thirteen of A.P Reorganization Act and it was one of the main topics on the agenda of the meeting of Members of Parliament on Railway projects held in the city in January.
The clarification by SCR showed that the Railway Board is in no hurry to take a decision on the zone even as it became a point of intense debate post-bifurcation.