Title - Mysore-Bangalore double line project will be put on track, says minister

MYSORE: Two infrastructure projects pending for long have made it to the list of top priorities of new district minister V Sreenivasa Prasad.

Four-laning of Mysore-Nanjangud road and doubling of Mysore-Bangalore railway line will now get attention. While upgrading a stretch of NH 212 connecting Mysore to Nanjangud will help both the tourists and for extension of industrial belt, the double line between the IT city and the tourist hub will improve connectivity. Prasad, who is revenue minister, on Friday, said delay in land acquisition at Mandya district has slowed down doubling the railway track. A part of land required for laying new line at Maddur was caught in legal dispute. We've funds to acquire land that is not a problem. I'm convening a meeting of Mysore and Mandya DCs to focus on the problem, Prasad told reporters after inaugurating district minister's office at Public Offices abutting Mysore Palace. The project was delayed given the delay to shift an armory from Tipu Sultan's period at Srirangapatna railway station. It is also okayed now, he stated.

While South Western Railway is completing building major bridges across Cauvery river to lay the tracks and has completed doubling from Mysore to Naganahalli and from Bangalore to Ramnagaram. The missing link is delaying completion of the rail project, which, subsequently is adding to pressure on Mysore-Bangalore expressway. While the railway has increased trains between Mysore and Bangalore since five years, extension of better services hinges on the completion of the missing link.

Aware that land acquisition is the primary reason for the delay; the revenue minister said he will fix the problem. Prasad, who represents Nanjangud, said work to four-lane the stretch between Mysore and Nanjangud will commence in two months. Pointing at the appointment of senior Congress leader from Karnataka Oscar Fernandes as the Union minister for transport, road and highways, Prasad said it will help the Congress government put back the project on the track. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has approved the four-laning even as there are demands to realign the stretch to facilitate the expansion of workable Mysore Airport. The Airports Authority of India is seeking to extend the runway that cuts across Mysore-Nanjangud road.

However, Prasad said the four-laning will be taken up now, which could delay the expansion of the Mysore airport.