Title - Hopes for Hubli-Ankola line revived

Minister of State for Railways K.H. Muniyappa on Monday hoped that the Hubli-Ankola Railway line would become a reality as an Indian Institute of Science study had shown that deforestation could be reduced by half by building more tunnels.The controversial line has remained incomplete owing to objections from the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The Ministry had pointed out that the line which passes through the biodiversity hotspot — the Western Ghats — would cause denudation of forests and that an alternative, though circuitous, route via Madgaon was available. Mr. Muniyappa told presspersons that the study saying more than 50 per cent of forest could be saved by providing more tunnels had been submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forests.