Former Union minister and BJP senior leader Bandaru Dattatreya today demanded that the Centre allot Rs 1,000 crores for new state of Telangana (South Central Railways) in 2013-14 budget for taking up various pending railway works.
In a letter to Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda, Dattatreya said over the years there has been considerable injustice and discrimination against South Central Railway, particularly to Telangana on the issues pertaining to the execution of various railway projects such as the factories manufacturing spare parts, laying of new railway lines, electrification and new trains. Though SCR is one of the profit-making zones of Indian Railways, the allocations to the SCR are very meager, Dattatreya pointed out.
South Central Railway was having a host of projects which have been in the pipeline for ages due to lack of allocation of funds. There is also a demand for introduction of new railway lines and improving amenities in the Railway stations, he added. Demanding new railway lines, including third line from Secunderabad to Kazipet, electrification of Secunderabad-Nagpur-via-Nizamabad, Adilabad line and new line between Karimnagar-Hasamparthy (62 km, Dattatreya said if third line from Secunderabad to Kazipet is laid, then the journey from Secunderabad to New Delhi would be more convenient and the transportation from Secunderabad to Kazipet would also be better. If the Secunderabad-Bangalore and Secunderabad-Nizamabad, Adilabad-Nagpur is electrified, there will be an alternative line to New Delhi connecting the South and North India then the burden over Kazipet-New Delhi line will become lesser.
Dattatreya, who was a former railway minister stressed the need to start work on Hyderabad MMTS Phase-II immediately in view of the acute traffic condition that the city was experiencing everyday. (NSS)
