Bengaluru: The union government will fully fund the construction of 32 railway under/overbridges that were previously supposed to be half-funded by Karnataka, Minister of State for Railways V Somanna said on Saturday.
Addressing a press conference after holding his maiden review meeting here, Somanna said the railways had approved building 93 ROBs/RUBs to eliminate level crossings in various parts of Karnataka at a cost of Rs 1,699 crore.
Forty-nine of these bridges were to be built with equal funding from the railways and the state government. The railways was committed to contribute Rs 850 crore, while the state pledged Rs 849 crore.
However, Somanna suggested that Karnataka had withdrawn fund allocation approval for 32 of the 49 bridges.
He said that the railways had decided to build 14 of the 32 bridges by bearing their entire cost (Rs 208.4 crore) and would also take steps to complete the remaining 18 bridges at a cost of Rs 590 crore.
In the future, the railways will fully fund all bridge meant to eliminate level crossings, he added.
With a railway network of nearly 3,900 km, Karnataka has numerous level crossings where railway lines and roads intersect at the same level. In Bengaluru and other cities, level crossings contribute to significant traffic congestion.
Somanna said that in the Bengaluru region, 11 RUBs were constructed at a cost of Rs 280 crore and 12 ROBs for Rs 285 crore.
Eight more ROBs have been approved at a cost of Rs 208 crore and four RUBs at a cost of Rs 35.41 crore, he added.
Five of these 12 bridges are funded equally by the railways and the state government.
Three were fully funded by the railways and four by BBMP, he added.
The review meeting also discussed the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project, completed/ongoing new lines, doubling electrification projects, station redevelopment and the introduction of new passenger amenities at stations in Karnataka.
The introduction of new passenger trains and additional stoppages within the Bengaluru region were discussed to meet the growing demand for railway services.
The meeting was attended by Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje, state ministers Ramalinga Reddy and Dinesh Gundu Rao, MPs PC Mohan, L S Tejasvi Surya, Mallesh Babu and K Narayan, MLAs Munirathna, S T Somashekar, S Muniraju, Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, B A Basavaraj, N A Haris and MLC H S Gopinath Reddy.