It seems land tangle still haunts the new rail zone (South Coastal Railway), which was announced in 2019 with its headquarters in Visakhapatnam, if the remarks made by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav. The Union Minister, while speaking to the media on the railway budget, pointed out that land acquisition issue was delaying the project. “Once the issue is sorted out, work on the zone will gain pace,” he observed hinting at further delay.
Though it has been over five years since the zone was sanctioned, work on it hits a roadblock and it has become a jinxed project dashing the hopes of Vizagites.
After the zone was sanctioned, two sites — one at Wireless Colony and the other at Mudasarlova — have been identified for construction of the zone headquarters.
However, for reasons better known to the Central and State governments, allotment of land did not take place and both had started blaming each other on the issue. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his election campaign alleged that the State government did not allot land for the purpose causing delay of the zone work.
Even after the government has been formed by the NDA partners, the Railway Minister is chanting the old mantra citing the land issue as a hindrance.
Reacting to the remarks of the Union Minister, the CPI(M) finds fault with the Central government wondering why the railway zone land in Visakhapatnam is not being used for the purpose and insisting on alternative lands.
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This article is written by Senior Journalist Lakkoju Nagesh Babu
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