The fate of the new railway terminal for Mysuru slated to come up at Naganahalli is hanging in the balance due to meagre allocations in the budget for 2022-23 and land acquisition issues.
The project has received ₹5 crore in the budget against the estimated cost of nearly ₹789 crorebut sources said it is only for taking up sundry works related to the existing station development.
Railway officials said the Ministry was serious about the project and not only accorded administrative approval in 2018-19 but the Naganahalli coaching terminal was also listed among 28 nationally critical rail infrastructure projects.
‘’But the State Government seems to be disinclined in funding the land acquisition process and one of their communique stated that it will only facilitate the railways in acquiring the land’’, according to sources.
The first phase of the project may require about 165 acres but the Infrastructure Development Department of Karnataka has not responded to the railway’s request of bearing the cost of the land and hence it is likely that the railways may be forced to reconsider the project’s status.
In view of the State Government’s reluctance and delay in land acquisition, a higher allocation in the budget would have been meaningless, sources added.
The new coaching terminal was envisaged to augment the capacity of the Mysuru station to handle additional trains and reduce the operational bottleneck due to capacity constraints at the existing station. The first phase of the project entailed laying 4 platform lines and 4 stabling lines apart from the station building and maintenance facilities all of which is projected to cost around ₹496.29 crore.
The project was initially targeted for completion by 2023-24 but any delay will further escalate the cost and put a question mark on its feasibility.
Mysuru MP Pratap Simha had sought the personal intervention of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and had underlined its importance for the region’s economic growth and for enhancing the logistic efficiency to propel industrial activity. With the cost of land acquisition pegged at ₹1.25 crore to ₹1.5 crore per acre the State Government seems to be disinclined as of now as its resources have shrunk due to the pandemic.
