By IANS,
Bangalore: The Karnataka government Wednesday formed a coordination committee to monitor time-bound execution of pending railway projects across the state.
The committee, headed by Chief Secretary S.V. Ranganath, has officials from the state government and the South Western Railway (SWR) as members to review the progress of the projects on monthly basis and avoid cost overruns due to delays.
“The committee will coordinate with the ministry of railways and other agencies to complete the projects on priority, as funds have been provided in the state budget for this fiscal (2011-12) for sharing the cost,” Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa told reporters here.
Though the state government had released Rs.498 crore as its share for the projects in the last fiscal (2010-11), the railways utilised only Rs.276 crore for various reasons, including land acquisition and other clearances.
“The railway network (density) across the state is very low compared to neighbouring states. Out of 176 taluks in the state, 81 taluks do not have a railway line. The pending projects have to be completed without further delays to have robust rail connectivity in the state,” Yeddyurappa said.
Union Minister of State for Railways K.H. Muniyappa, who hails from Karnataka, asked the state government to expedite the pending projects and launch new projects that were announced in the railway budget of this fiscal (2011-12).
“The state government has come forward to release Rs.600 crore this fiscal as its share towards the projects. But land acquisition, environmental clearances and coordination with state agencies concerned have to be speedily addressed to complete the projects,” Muniyappa said.
Some of the projects for which the state released funds include track doubling between Ramnagara and Mysore and gauge conversion on the Shimoga-Talaguppa, Kadur-Chikmagalur and Kudachi-Bagalkot lines.