Title - Hubli monorail gets a boost

After Jagadish Shettar took over as Chief Minister of the State, there are lots of expectations from the people of the twin cities regarding various development projects.Going by the way things are progressing, there seems to be at least few reasons for residents of Hubli-Dharwad to feel happy. It may be recalled that the State Cabinet had approved the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) project to be funded by the World Bank.In July, the administration mooted a monorail project for the twin cities and there is a positive development in this regard.On Tuesday, a team from the Chennai regional office of Engineering Projects (India) Limited (EPI), visited Hubli and held discussions with the Chairman and officials of the Hubli-Dharwad Urban Development Authority (HDUDA).Chairman of HDUDA Lingaraj Patil told The Hindu that a two-member team led by K.G. Ranganathan, Additional General Manager of EPI at Chennai, held a preliminary round of discussions with them on the monorail project.“We gave them our connectivity requirements. It comes to around four-five routes in Hubli connecting old KSRTC bus-station, Durgad Bail, Siddharoodh Math, Airport Road in Hubli, and five to six routes connecting Karnatak University, University of Agricultural Sciences, city bus-station, railway station, and Kelageri in Dharwad,” Mr. Patil said.

“Considering the fact that BRTS had already been approved by the government, we told them that we may need a connecting route as well. They told us that the land required for the project would not be much and that they would return to study the feasibility,” Mr. Patil added.

Mr. Ranganathan told The Hindu that apart from other infrastructure projects in the twin cities, HDUDA was interested in the monorail project. “According to requirements they have given, the monorail project would have to cover a distance of 60 km in the twin cities. We have taken their requirements. I will have to consult the senior officials concerned on the issue,” he said.

Mr. Patil said that the team would be returning to Hubli for further study.