<p class="title">Over 30 Bengaluru citizen groups have written to the Union Railway Minister condemning the PMO’s directive to stall the suburban railway project and rework it. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) recently revoked the possibility of providing railway land free to the Bengaluru suburban rail project. This is a shock, especially after the Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal declared after his meeting with Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy that the decks are clear for the project.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The citizen groups have mentioned in their letter that the city had been deprived of suburban rail for more than three decades and lack of such a transport facility adversely impacted the city and the state at large.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The letter, also addressed to the Deputy Regional Manager, South Western Railway, Bengaluru, said the<br />concerned ministers committed to the project under mounting pressure on the centre and state government brought forth by years of protests, appeals and feasibility studies and massive citizen demand.</p>.<p class="CrossHead">Need for lifeline</p>.<p class="bodytext">It also stated that lakhs of commuters in the city await a full-fledged rail service, providing a lifeline for daily wage labourers, students and working professionals struggling to commute every day.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The citizen groups also demanded the PMO to immediately withdraw its new directive and clear all the obstacles to begin and complete the project.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“The suburban rail project has always been looked up to as a lifeline for the commuter in the city,” Srinivas Alavilli, co-founder and coordinator of Citizen For Bengaluru said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“The new directive by the PMO for reworking the project feels like a betrayal. However, we’ll not step back and approach the elected representatives again (after the elections) to realize this project,” he added. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Members of the groups met the DRM, SW on Wednesday and handed the letter.</p>
<p class="title">Over 30 Bengaluru citizen groups have written to the Union Railway Minister condemning the PMO’s directive to stall the suburban railway project and rework it. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) recently revoked the possibility of providing railway land free to the Bengaluru suburban rail project. This is a shock, especially after the Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal declared after his meeting with Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy that the decks are clear for the project.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The citizen groups have mentioned in their letter that the city had been deprived of suburban rail for more than three decades and lack of such a transport facility adversely impacted the city and the state at large.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The letter, also addressed to the Deputy Regional Manager, South Western Railway, Bengaluru, said the<br />concerned ministers committed to the project under mounting pressure on the centre and state government brought forth by years of protests, appeals and feasibility studies and massive citizen demand.</p>.<p class="CrossHead">Need for lifeline</p>.<p class="bodytext">It also stated that lakhs of commuters in the city await a full-fledged rail service, providing a lifeline for daily wage labourers, students and working professionals struggling to commute every day.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The citizen groups also demanded the PMO to immediately withdraw its new directive and clear all the obstacles to begin and complete the project.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“The suburban rail project has always been looked up to as a lifeline for the commuter in the city,” Srinivas Alavilli, co-founder and coordinator of Citizen For Bengaluru said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“The new directive by the PMO for reworking the project feels like a betrayal. However, we’ll not step back and approach the elected representatives again (after the elections) to realize this project,” he added. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Members of the groups met the DRM, SW on Wednesday and handed the letter.</p>