Stone laid for Kadapa-Bangalore railway line

Kadapa, Sept 1 (INN): Minister of State for Railways KH Muniyappa on Wednesday attributed the relentless efforts of former chief minister late YS Rajasekhara Reddy to get the sanction for the Kadapa-Bangalore new railway line. Laying the foundation stone for one of the largest projects on South Central Railway, the Kadapa-Bangalore new Railway line, at the Kadapa Railway Station, Mr Muniyappa said that the new Railway Line will reduce the distance considerably between Kadapa and the Silicon City of Bangalore.

Mr Mniyappa was the Chief Guest on the occasion, while Union Minister of State for Steel A Sai Prathap presided. Minority Welfare Minister Mohd Ahmedullah Syed, MPs YS Jaganmohan Reddy, and MV Mysoora Reddy were the Guests of Honour. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Muniyappa said that the efforts of the former chief minister had borne fruit today.

He revealed that the project will cost about Rs 2,000 crore, and the Government of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have agreed to bear the costs on 50:50 basis, which reflects the understanding between the Railways and the State Governments. Elaborating on the benefits of the project, the Minister said that It has got the potential to boost economy and generate employment in the region.

He also expressed confidence that, under the guidance of Minister for Railways Mamata Banerjee the project will be completed in about five years on a fast track basis. Mr Muniyappa also stated that the entire doubling of railway line between Renigunta-Guntakal will be completed by 2011.

Mr Sai Prathap said that the new Railway Line project will herald a new dawn of progress in Rayalaseema Region which shall become rich in every sphere.

Mr YS Jaganmohan Reddy said that the Kadapa-Bangalore Railway line project has been the dream of his late father. It is a measure of the enormous goodwill of the public and their support which has made the project come true, he added.

Earlier, South Central Railway General Manager MS Jayanth welcomed the dignitaries and briefed on the salient features of the Kadapa-Bangalore new Railway line. This will shorten the distance by 226 kms as compared to the route via Renigunta, Jolarpettai, by 181 km as compared to the route via Gooty, Dharmavaram and 125 km as compared to the route via Renigunta-Pakala, Katpadi and Jolarapettai, he said.

The line which joins the Pakala-Dharmavaram route at Madanapalle will also provide a shorter alternate route between North India and Bangalore. The General Manager also highlighted the record budget allocations for SCR during the current financial year which almost doubled to Rs 873 crore from Rs 471 crore in the financial year 2009-2010.

SCR will be completing about 174 km of New Railway Lines during the current financial year, which is 20 per cent of the Indian Railways target, Mr Jayanth added.

Amongst those present were MLAs DL Ravindra Reddy, G Veera Siva Reddy, YS Vijayalakshmi, Adinarayana Reddy, A Amarnath Reddy, K Srinivasulu, G Sreekanth Reddy, Kamalamma, M Linga Reddy and MLCs YS Vivekanand Reddy, P Subba Reddy, besides Kadapa Mayor P Ravindranath Reddy, Zilla Parishad chairperson Jyothi Reddy