The Divisional Railway Manager of Hubballi Division of South Western Railway Harsh Khare has said that sixteen railway stations over Hubballi Division had been chosen for development under the Amrit Bharat scheme, to be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday.
Addressing presspersons in Hubballi on Friday, Mr. Khare said that among the 508 railway stations chosen under the scheme, 16 fall under the Hubballi Division and the PM would be laying the foundation stone via video conference for the upgradation of six railway stations namely Ballari, Koppal, Gadag, Alnavar, Gokak Road and Ghataprabha on Sunday.
He said the division had conducted various competitions for students of 25 schools and 14 colleges in and around the six railway stations and winners of these competitions would be given prizes at the local events on Sunday, the day on which the Prime Minister was scheduled to launch the scheme.
Long-term approach
Mr. Khare said that under ‘Amrit Bharat Station scheme,’ railway stations would be developed on a continuous basis with a long-term approach.
“It involves preparation of masterplans and their implementation in phases to improve amenities at the stations like improvement of station access, circulating areas, waiting halls, toilets, lift/escalators as necessary, cleanliness, free Wi-Fi, kiosks for local products through schemes like ‘One Station One Product’, better passenger information systems, Executive Lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping etc. keeping in view the necessity at each station,” he explained.
He said that the scheme also included improvement of buildings, integrating the station with both sides of the cities, multimodal integration, amenities for Divyangjans, sustainable and environment friendly solutions, ‘Roof Plazas’ as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centres in the long term.
To a query, Mr. Khare said that Hubballi and Vasco stations would also be developed with advanced facilities like malls and others. These stations would be developed on the lines of airports, he said.
Stations prone to landslips
On the recent landslip incident in the Braganza Ghat section of Hubballi Division, he said that in the lone ghat section of the division measuring about 25 km between Castle Rock and Kulem, 18 locations had been identified as prone to landslips.
Mr. Khare said that there would be a watchman at each of these 18 locations and this apart, the stretch would be patrolled before arrival of each train. “We are monitoring the ghat section under the guidance of National Institute of Rock Management. As per experts, a landslip will not recur at places where it has already taken place. However, the whole stretch is being monitored to ensure safety of passenger trains,” he said.
Chief Project Manager, Gatishakti, Hubballi Division, Sanjay Kumar, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager Harietha S., Deputy Chief Engineer Gatishakti Ramesh Chandra and others were present.
