Rail budget disappoints N Karnataka

The people of North Karnataka were utterly disappointed with the Railway budget presented by Union railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav last week.

The people expected the budget to give special attention to South Western Railway zone but their hopes have been shattered.

Terming the budget as Bihar-West Bengal-oriented, Dharwad North MP Prahalad Joshi and former railway minister Basavaraj Patil Yatnal said that the rail minister succumbed to pressure from the Left. Prahlad Joshi that the budget had failed to maintain a regional balance and lacked a positive approach. "Karnataka has been meted out a step-motherly treatment once again," Joshi said.

Basavaraj Patil Yatnal said that the railway minister under the grip of the Communist parties had favoured West Bengal and his own state, Bihar, at the cost of other states.

The budget has provided funds for gauge conversion between Basavana Bagewadi and Bagalkot and Mysore-Chamarajpet. Prahlad Joshi lamented that the budget, while providing Rs 20 crore for the Bijapur-Gadag gauge conversion said nothing on completing the work. The hopes of the people that the South Western Railway zone will get special attention in the budget have shattered. As expected, the Hubli-Ankola railway line project has not been allotted any funds as the project is mired in a controversy.

Upgradation of the Hubli railway workshop, shifting of the goods-shed attached to the Hubli railway station to Navalur, proposal for a new line ? the Raichur-Bagalkot-Kudachi line ? and also between Koppal and Alamatti have not been considered. The Munirabad-Mehboobnagar railway line for which the then minister of state for Railways Digvijay Singh laid the foundation stone continues to retain its 'proposal' status. Similarly, there is no mention of doubling the route between Tumkur and Hubli. Joshi was sour that his pre-budget suggestion to run the Yashwantpur-New Delhi Sampark Kranti express via Hubli and Belgaum had been ignored. The train now runs via Secunderabad hardly touching parts of Karnataka.

The Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Hubli has decried that no new rail service has been introduced in Karnataka. Though the railway minister has announced that 55 new trains would be introduced he has named only 14 trains and there is none for Karnataka, rued Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry secretary Mahendra Laddad.

KCC&I chairman Shankarana Munavalli identifying the plus points in the budget said reduction of fare for AC passengers had brought cheer to the rich passengers. He said addition on one coach for each train was a welcome move. Reduction in the freight for transporting diesel and petrol by eight percent has pleased the business community.

The only solace for MP Prahlad Joshi is that the Railway minister's promise to run the Vasco-Vijayawada and Vasco-Howrah trains via Hubli. " This would provide the people of Hubli direct access to Kolkata" Joshi said.

Laloo Prasad Yadav has also promised to increase the speed of the Bangalore-Mumbai Chalukya Express and change the timings to suit the passengers from North Karnataka.