The delay in the execution of the six newly approved railway lines for Belagavi, which includes the Bagakot-Kidachi line ,has raised concerns.
Despite being approved in 2010,with an approx budget of ₹986 crore the 142 kilometer Bagakote Kudachi line project which connects Goa port and Mumbai city ,is not yet complete. The public is awaiting for the implementation of the delayed proposed project.
While there is a drastically growing demand of public for the rapid construction of six new railway lines in the border district of Belagavi continues to grow ,on the one hand, the slow pace of land acquisition for the approved ambitious project has caused dissatisfaction to the general public .
The demand for the expansion of rail facilities in the district through Belagavi-Kittur-Dharwad ,Kudachi-Bagalkot,Belagavi-Kollapur,Belagavi-Sawantwadi,Lokapura-Ramadurga-Savadatti-Dharwad and Shedbal-Athani-Vijayapura routes has been heard from the people of the respective areas for decades and for enhancement of connectivity and development of the area.
Belagavi, a border district with 28 sugar factories, a large industrial area, tourist attractions and famous temples ,is the link between Karnataka -Goa-Maharashtra states. Additionally, millions of public rely on train and travels everyday, with enhanced connectivity with the nearby cities is expected to boost and the districts industrial growth and tourism of the district will develop potentially. Thereby it will foster the creation of employment opportunities.
Consequently, The public is eagerly waiting to see when the proposed railway project will be implemented.
However, after a continuous struggle of 5 years ,the Railway Department has given its approval for the Begaum-Kittur-Dharwad route project.
However, because of the delay in the process of land acquisition in the Belagavi district, major drawbacks has been set for starting the work.
In the budget 2010-2011,the Shedbal-Athani -Vijayapura route was proposed and was initiated during the existence of the UPA government.
However, even after a decade, the project wasn’t closed by the government.
The general public has stated that the project has been neglected by the authorities during the led of the BJP government.
In the year 2019,the project between Belagavi-Dharwad has been sanctioned and the Railway Board has provided a contribution of Rs 823 crore for the 73 km long project.
However, the work wasn’t done because of the issue of acquisition of land and now the budget for doing the project has been increased with time.
The collectors of Dharwad and Belagavi District have confirmed that the land acquisition will be completed by the end of March and everything is going to be done as expected ,but the work will start after the month of April.
The project survey for the continuation of the project of Belagavi-Kollapur route has been accepted. Additionally, According to the Railway Department officials, the project survey for the Belgaum-Sawantwadi route is still in progress.
The approval of the 142 km long Bagalkot-Kudachi route for Rs 986 crore project, to connect via Goa port and Mumbai city was given in the year 2010,and the work is underway with a grant of Rs 1,530 crore and the work to be done from Bagalkot to Lokapura route have been completed.
The Railway department has given a great news for goods train traffic for the industrial benefits in that region. However, the tender process for the four packages has not been completed from Lokapura to Yadavada route, Jamkhandi, Harugeri and Kudachi region .
In the year 2019,The project survey was conducted in three phases- 97 km, 109 km, and 137 km and the project has come to a standstill after it is stated by the report that ‘the proposed rail rout is not economically viable due to the lack of traffic congestion’.
In 2022-23, the number of 1.73 crore devotees have visited the Savadatti Srirenuka Yallamma Devi Temple and there was no shortage of passengers .
Recently, MP Jagadish Shettar appealed Ashwani Vaishnav, the Railway Minister to conduct another survey to approve the project.
The member of Belgaum Development Forum, Gajendra Patil stated that the development of the district will get boosted if the Belgaum-Kittur-Dharwad and Bagalkot-Kudachu route projects are done rapidly and are completed on time. Alongside, the public representatives should also work to get the approval of the government for the Belgaum-Sawantwadi and Baelgaum-Kollapur route projects.
The work on the Bagalkot-Kudachi railway line which is in progress will be completed as Iranna Kadadi,the member of Rajya Sabha stated that certain steps will be taken to complete the work on time and to start the train traffic by the end of the year 2025.
Furthermore, Jagadish Shettar, MP ,stated that the officials have been instructed to complete the land acquisition process of 5 to 6 percent work that is remained to be done in the area to connect Dharwad via Kittur. Similarly, Ashwani Vaishnav, the Railway Minister has responded to the request made to her and has promised to conduct another survey on the Lokapura-Savadatti-Dharwad project .