Vijayawada: Expectations of funds to complete railway projects in Vijayawada division are rising as the Union government prepares to announce the General Budget, which will have the railway Budget as a component, on February 1. Several promises and projects sanctioned to the Vijayawada railway division, including small and marginal ones, have been kept aside for several years due to inadequate funds, despite the huge revenue generated by the division.
Long standing projects like doubling of lines between Vijayawada and Machilipatnam and Gudivada and Bhimavaram are moving at a snail's pace. The Union government had announced '20,000 crore in the last Railway Budget for the completion of pending projects in teh division but only Rs 200 crore has been released till date. Demands for trains between Vijayawada and Bengaluru and from the city to Mumbai was kept aside for years.
With the new capital coming up at Amaravati, there is a demand for increasing connectivity between Guntur and Vijayawada with high speed trains. The South Central Railways which conducted a pre-Budget meeting with MPs and representatives of the state till last year has not organised one this year for accepting proposals. It has come under criticism for this.
“The Union government is neglecting Vijayawada railway division. The railways ministry which had accepted the proposals for developing satellite stations at Gunadala and Kondapalli to control the huge rush at Vijayawada junction have been kept aside for years due to lack of funds, “ said Mr N. Srihari, Users’ Consultative Committee member at Vijayawada railway station. The ‘Rail Neer’ packaged drinking water project sanctioned four years ago at an estimated cost of Rs 15 crore was still waiting for the preliminary approvals, he said.
Railway unions and experts opine that clubbing railways with general Budget will further delay the projects. South Central Railway Mazdoor Union president Srinivas Rao opined that merger of the Railway Budget with Union Budget would only delay projects. The government should clarify the projects and sanctions made, he said.
