Senior BJP leader V Somanna.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Limited (KRIDE) will have a full-time technical expert as MD within the next 15 -20 days, Union Minister of State for Railways and Jal Shakti V Somanna announced on Monday.
He was addressing the press, after holding a meeting with senior officials of the South Western Railway (SWR) at Rail House, near the Bengaluru Cantonment railway station in Bengaluru. "K-RIDE does not have a permanent MD. I have already requested the Chief Secretary to appoint a technical expert as the KRIDE MD. Based on the railways' notification, we will appoint a full-time MD within 15 to 20 days," he said.
Despite K-RIDE's social and environmental impact assessment report, which noted the need to fell 32,572 trees for the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project (BSRP), Somanna brushed aside concerns of thoughtless tree axing and assured that trees will be planted along the corridors. Discussions will be held accordingly in this regard, he added.
Somanna also assured that several pending projects will be completed soon. “We will hold detailed discussions and complete nine (new line) projects in Karnataka – which have been ongoing since 1995-96, 2004-05 or 2010-11; some by December 2025 and the rest by December 2026 before handing them over to the citizens,” he said.
He also pointed towards five doubling projects -- Hotgi-Kudgi-Gadag, Yeshwanthpur-Channasandra, Baiyappanahalli-Hosur, Hospet-Vasco de Gama, and Bengaluru-Whitefield -- and assured completion. The minister also assured the completion of the replacement of all level crossings to railway underbridges (RUBs) or road overbridges (ROBs) soon.
An official release by South Western Railway noted that 289 km out of 1,264 km of new line and 502 km of the 707 km of doubling has already been commissioned.
Commenting on the collision that took place between Kanchanjunga Express and a goods train near the New Jalpaiguri station, West Bengal, Somanna said, "The accident has brought us all pain. I have instructed senior officers to inform us about what happened there. They have gone to the spot. I am going to the Rail Bhawan and I will learn about what happened and how".