Bengaluru: Despite continuous efforts by citizens for seven years and various follow-up meetings, the commuter rail project has seen little development. The detailed project report (DPR) prepared by Directorate Of Urban Land Transport (DULT) earlier too had many shortcomings.
The state government claims it has communicated with the railways, but the railway minister has not given them any approval. On the other hand the railways alleges that there is no cooperation from the state government. The advocates of Namma Railu are once again trying increase revitalize their movement. In fact, there are plans to hold a hunger strike or a protest to draw the attention of the authorities regarding the issue. They are demanding immediate implementation of ‘Namma Railu’ and have requested everyone to call chief minister's office regarding the same. They pointed out that if Bengaluru is planning to implement schemes like odd-even formula for cars, a commuter rail would be needed as and alternative for commuters.
Sanjeev V Dyamannavar, a strong advocate of the project said, “We are trying to get in touch with the state government on the stand on the project, if at all they are serious and they really want to implement the project. There have been no answers from them so far. The MPs and MLAs have failed to put pressure on the government to make commuter rail a reality.” Interestingly, the PM too has been appraised about the project, but there seems to no willingness among the departments to push for the project, while the city’s vehicle population continues to grow, he added.
The votaries of the project argue that since Namma Metro project is floundering, having missed many deadlines, the commuter rail could be a major mode of transport and take pressure off the roads. Bangaloreans could have an alternative while commuting to destinations like Whitefield, Tumakuru and Ramanagara, with stopovers at Yelahanka and Kengeri.
While the existing tracks can be used for the project, its supporters say 58 per cent of the total investment of Rs 9,000 crore will go towards upgrading railway infrastructure and doubling the tracks, which in turn will help the Indian Railways run more intercity and goods trains.
