Expressing surprise over Railway Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge’s statement that the Railway Ministry had not received a concrete proposal from the Karnataka government regarding suburban rail service for Bangalore, Bangalore South MP Ananth Kumar claimed that the former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar had written to the former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal about the proposed project at an estimated cost of Rs. 8,759 crore in February 2013 after initiating a feasibility and study report.
In a letter to Mr. Kharge, a copy of which was released to the media, Mr. Ananth Kumar said the Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka, had written to the Railway Board on October 28, 2013, requesting implementation of the project.
“In his letter, the Chief Secretary had communicated that all the necessary actions had been initiated by the State government for the implementation of the suburban rail system in Bangalore. This includes a detailed project report for the first phase of the project, setting up of a special purpose vehicle ‘Bangalore Suburban Rail Company Ltd.’ and the initiation of action for acquisition of Binny Mill Land at Bangalore,” said Mr. Ananth Kumar, who is also the national general secretary of the BJP.
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He pointed out that that a suburban rail system on the lines of the service in Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Kolkata should be introduced in Bangalore to help the growing population and address the mobility issues to destinations like Tumkur, Doddaballapur, Chickballapur and Mandya. He has urged the Centre to clear the proposal put forth by the Karnataka government in the regard.