State to press for hastening railway works

State to press for hastening railway works
The Hindu

BANGALORE, NOV. 10. The Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, and the Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, will soon go to Delhi to discuss speeding up of the projects to be carried out in collaboration with the Railways in the State.

The Chief Minister said this at a function organised by the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike and the Railways to inaugurate the Lingarajapuram grade separator, which was already opened to traffic on October 16, on Wednesday. The Union Minister of State for Railways, R. Velu, was present at the inaugural function.

"I have already spoken to Mr. Velu about the pending projects and he has promised to extend cooperation [to speed them up]. On our part, we are ready to release funds and allocate land for the projects," Mr. Dharam Singh said.

"With the opening of the grade separator, residents of east Bangalore and surrounding areas no longer have to put up with traffic detours and dusty roads," he said.

Pointing out that the State Government was committed to meeting people's demands, he said the elected representatives (both MLAs and corporators) would inspect all the wards and prioritise works in them.

"I direct the BMP Commissioner, K. Jothiramalingam, to take up all those identified works at the earliest," Mr. Dharam Singh added.

Mr. Velu said the pilot project to book train tickets through cellphones was on in some States and it would soon be implemented elsewhere in the country.

He said call centres would be set up to provide information regarding Railway services to people. "We also have plans to put up more vending machines for unreserved tickets," he said and added that his Ministry would extend all possible help for joint projects in the State.

The project

The Railways and the civic body have executed the grade separator project at a cost of Rs. 15.43 lakhs.

The two-lane, 684-metre grade separator has reinforced earth-retaining approaches. It connects Hennur Main Road to Outer Ring Road, Shivajinagar and the central business district.

It is 10 km from the city railway station and passes over the Yeshwanthpur-Salem railway track.

Protest

Earlier, the residents staged a protest near the facility, demanding adequate service roads on either side of the bridge.

Demanding better civic amenities in Lingarajapuram, the residents urged the authorities not to construct a wall on either side of the railway line. Public transport should be allowed to ply below the bridge, and Banaswadi Railway Station should be renamed Lingarajpuram Railway Station, they added.