Title - ‘Railway Budget disappointing’

The Railway Budget is disappointing as north Karnataka, particularly Gadag–Hospet–Bellary sector, has yet again been given step-motherly treatment and deprived of new trains.Babulal Jain, member of the South Western Railway Zonal Rail Users’ Consultative Committee, told The Hindu that the budget was most disappointing.

Demand:“Our hopes that at least in this budget our long-pending demand for train service between Chennai and Mumbai, via Bellary, Hospet and Gadag, would be considered has been belied yet again.”“This is despite giving many representations and proposals that were included in the ones submitted by the General Manager of SWR. This indicates that the UPA government continued its step-motherly treatment to the region,” he said. Mr. Yamunesh, member of the Hubli Divisional Rail Users’ Consultative Committee, and K. Mahesh, member of the Hospet Station Consultative Committee, said that whatever little facilities that were provided to the State was limited to Bangalore, Mysore and Mangalore, leaving the backward north Karnataka, especially Bellary-Hospet-Koppal areas “high and dry”.

Plight: “This is the plight of our region even after contributing around Rs. 3,000 crore as freight revenue per annum from the Bellary–Hospet sector alone to the Railways. Not one new train has been introduced in this region, which is unfortunate,” Mr. Yamunesh said.The two, in a press release, criticised the State government and MPs from the region for not mounting pressure on the Centre and the Railway Minister to get their long-pending demands fulfilled.Hospet–Bangalore intercity; Kottur–Harihar rail line (that was almost ready); plying the weekly Mysore–Shirdi thrice a week; reintroducing the train between Bijapur–Dharmavaram via Hospet; and train between Chennai and Mumbai via Bellary–Hospet were some of the long-pending proposals that could have been included in the Railway Budget, they said here on Wednesday.