Bengaluru: Determined to keep the pressure on for a suburban rail for the city now that it has been announced in the Union rail budget, civic activists are holding workshops and enrolling more volunteers to help whip up more public support for it.
Mr Mahesh Mahadevaiah, member of the Suburban Rail Passengers’ Association, says it intends to remind people about the project’s advantages through various workshops and other activities to make sure the governments both at the Centre and state do not forget about it as they have done in the past.
The association has also threatened to hold a rail roko and a hunger strike before the Vidhan Soudha if its demands are not taken seriously.
“We are disappointed with the railway budget for not making a greater commitment to the project and plan to agitate if our demands are not meet this time,” warns Mr Mahadevaiah, adding, “We will meet the chief secretary of the government of Karnataka very soon and the Chief Minister frequently as we understand the Centre wants the state government to propose the project to the railway board and the railway minister. The state government should at least make a few moves soon in this direction.”
The activists note that the project has been hanging fire for over 10 years due to a lack of communication between the state government and the railway board and the absence of political will to make it a reality.
The commuter rail is expected to not only take the pressure of the roads but also allow Bengalureans to commute in ease from the city to not too distant destinations like Whitefield, Tumakuru and Ramanagara, with stopovers at suburbs like Yelahanka and Kengeri. .
