Hyderabad Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HKCCI), a body of industrialists and traders from Kalyana Karnataka region, has expressed reservations on the formation of the South Coastal Railway Zone of the Railways with its headquarters in Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. It has expressed apprehensions over some of the railway areas in Kalyana Karnataka region being transferred to the new zone.
In a letter to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday, Amarnath C. Patil and Shasikanth B. Patil, president and secretary of HKCCI, respectively, have said that they feared that places such as Nalwar, Yadgir and Raichur, among others, in Kalyana Karnataka region would get transferred to the newly formed zone based at Vishakapatnam which is far away at a distance of 850 km from the region.
“It is unfortunate that Kalyana Karnataka region gets divided into four Railway zones resulting in non-development of railway infrastructure in the region. Also, it will result in the region having left with the most neglected areas from the point of view of railway development. We strongly oppose the shifting of Nalwar, Yadgir and Raichur and other places of Kalyana Karnataka region to the jurisdiction of the newly formed South Coastal Railway Zone at Vishakapatnam as it is against the railway interests of the people of this region and request you to withhold such transfer forever,” they said. Reminding the Railway Minister of the long-pending project of setting up a new Railway Division with its headquarters in Kalaburagi (the project was sanctioned in 2014 and the foundation stone was also laid in the same year at Wadi Junction by the then Railway Minister in the presence of the Chairman, Railway Board and Chief Minister of Karnataka), they requested the Minister to exclude the areas that were supposed to be part of the already sanctioned Railway Division at Kalaburagi from the newly formed South Coastal Railway Zone.
“It is a pity that Kalyana Karnataka region in the map of the Railways is fragmented among four Railway Divisions and a railway commuter has to run between these four Railway Divisions spread in four directions, for redressal of any railway grievances. That apart, all the district headquarters such as Kalaburagi, Bidar, Raichur and Yadgir within the jurisdiction of Kalyana Karnataka region are geographically located at the tail end of the Railway Divisions and are deprived of any railway amenity,” they said and demanded that the Kalaburagi Railway Division Project be implemented putting all the railway stations in Kalyana Karnataka region under it.
“The Railway Division at Kalaburagi was recommended by the Sareen Committee along with other Railway Divisions across the country, as far back as 1984. All the Railway Divisions recommended by this committee have been established and made functional leaving the Railway Division at Kalaburagi high and dry. It was in 2014 that the Government of India sanctioned the Kalaburagi Railway Division and also a foundation stone was also laid. Further, this was followed by acquisition 42 acres of land at Kalaburagi for the establishment of the Kalaburagi Railway Division. The Railways has taken possession of the acquired land and has fenced it for the purpose of establishment of the Railway Division,” they said.
