Mangaluru: All possible measures will be initiated by the Ministry of Railway to speed up the development works in Mangaluru-Karwar divisions of Indian Railways, said, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Railways and Jal Shakti, V Somanna.
He was speaking to media people after inspecting Mangaluru Central Railway Station on Wednesday.
Measures will be taken to demolish the old building in Mangaluru Central Railway station and to construct a new building. The tender will be floated in a month towards the same, he said.
Measures towards modernisation of Indian Railways are being implemented from the past several years and the central government has released funds towards various development works. Direction has been given to float a tender towards the works in Mangaluru division in 15 to 20 days, the minister said.
'We will not let Mangaluru division suffer'
The Mangaluru division has been suffering for the last five decades due to confusions. The present central government will not let this continue, Somanna said.
He meanwhile stated that development works in Mangaluru-Karwar are not being carried out at the expected pace. In order to expedite the works, a blueprint will be drawn in a month with the support of local MLAs, MPs and intellectuals.
There are 59 railway stations in Karnataka. The railway in the state is shared among Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Goa.
The Union Minister of State for Railways also said that it has been one month and seven days since he has assumed the office and he has visited Secunderabad, Bengaluru and Mangaluru railway divisions.
“Merger of railway divisions is secondary. Upgrading the existing facilities will be the priority,” Somanna said and stressed that he will speak to the Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnav in this regard.
Stating that various development works are implemented under Amrith Yojaya and Gati Shakti in the state, Somanna said that under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vaishnav, 40,000 double lanes have been constructed along with new lanes, Railway Over Bridges (ROB), Railway Under Bridges (RUB) and level crossings in the country during the past 10 years.
Stressing on the need to strike a coordination between various divisions of Railways, the minister said that he emphasises on maintaining a cordial relation with officials. “One needs to understand that politicians and officials are two sides of the same coin”, he meanwhile said.
‘Permanent steps to ensure uninterrupted railway traffic’
“The Indian Railways has a disaster management unit of its own and a war room to respond to the rain related incidents. The rains have been severe this time, resulting in landslides in Mangaluru-Karwar railway line. However, directions have been issued to take precautionary steps to prevent landslides. The relief measures are being carried out. A permanent mechanism will be built so that the trains are not affected due to rains. He will hold a discussion with Vaishnav,” Somanna said.
Stating that the disaster management measures are being carried out in war footing in various parts of the country, Somanna said that he is not satisfied with the disaster management in the Mangaluru division.
However, significant improvement will be done in four to five months and the railway authorities have been directed to work in coordination with the district administration in mitigating disasters, he said.