Title - Foundation stones for five projects to be laid in 3 months

Minister of State for Railways K.H. Muniyappa has said that the foundation stone for five projects, including the Gadag–Haveri line, will be laid in three months.He was here on Saturday to participate in the inauguration of the new railway station. Mr. Muniyappa said works on the Davangere–Tumkur, Whitefield– Kolar, Kudachi–Bagalkot and Rayadurg–Raichur lines too would start soon.The work on railway lines such as Hubli–Ankola, Talaguppa–Honnavar and Bangalore–Satyamangalam had been inordinately delayed owing to environmental concerns.

New proposal: The alignment of the Hubli–Ankola railway line had been changed and a revised proposal submitted to the Centre. The issue had been brought to the notice of Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan.“Now, the matter will come up before the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court. We will continue our efforts to get the approval for the project which has been pending for several decades,” he said.The proposal to build a railway line between Dharwad and Belgaum via Kittur was pending before the Planning Commission.Mr. Muniyappa said there was a proposal for a direct railway line to Delhi from Hubli and works on the Gulbarga–Humanabad– Bidar line had begun.“Once that is completed and the railway link from Hubli to Gulbarga is established, it will be easy to reach Delhi via Itarsi,” he said.The Minister said that railway stations across the country would be developed under the Station Development Scheme for which Belgium government would provide financial help.He said that 19 projects covering 1,500 km of railway line had been sanctioned since 2004 and six projects covering 626 km at an estimated cost of Rs. 3,302 crores had been sent to the Planning Commission.