Mangalore: It's God's Own Railway, Rail Yatris' Sigh of Despair
Mangalore / Udupi, Jan 8: Venkatesh Kini, president of the Byndoor Rail Yatri Sangh, has been given an assurance by union minister of state for railways K H Muniyappa that soon a new train between Bangalore and Karwar would be introduced.
Kini led a delegation and met Muniyappa, who was on a private visit to Sringeri on Friday. The latter reportedly did admit that inustice has been done to the Kannadigas in railway budgets and allocations. Proposal for a new train is...
more... likely to feature in the forthcoming budget, sources said.One slogs, the other hogs
The Rail Yatri Sanghs of Byndoor and Udupi have been moving heaven and earth over the wrongs done to the people of Karnataka over the past years. Muniyappa's colleague - another minister of state for railways - from Kerala, E Ahamed, is said to be taking the benefit of every facility sanctioned to the west coast of Karnataka.
In 2009, says a Yatri Sangh functionary, that the inter-region time table committee had resolved that the present night train between Mangalore and Yeshwantpur be extended up to Karwar. But due to pressure from powerful lobbies, it was extended up to Kannur, instead of Karwar. It was thought that because of the close similarity between the names - Karwar and Kannur - there could have been mix-up while sanctioning the train. The southeastern railway board had even written a letter on July 15, 2009 objecting to the extension to Kannur, which has not been responded to till date.
The board wrote in 2010 to the central railway board to at least allot half the compartments and divert them from Mangalore towards Karwar with the help of another engine, say the Yatri Sangh members. Muniyappa is said to have agreed to this proposal at that stage. However, in response to a recent query under the Right to Information Act, union railway ministry has reportely expressed its inability to introduce the train, citing management hitches and resource crunch, they point out.
Looks Like it's God's Own Railway !
Yatri Sangh sources also said the Kerala lobby is so powerful that they have managed to get a new train from Ernakulam to Pune, running on the Konkan railway route. This train has eight stops in Kerala while running from Ernakulam up to Kasaragod. Thereafter, northwards, the only stops it has are at Mangalore and Madgaon, and not even at two prominent district headquarters, Udupi and Karwar. 'Looks like it's God's Own Railway!' exclaims a prominent Yatri Sangh member out of desperation. He does not fail to add, 'As for us, God alone should protect our interests!'
Cry in the wilderness
Yatri Sangh members also say there are two influential persons from the west coast who enjoy good clout in the union government and the UPA. They have failed the people of the western coast, they say in despair. The MPs from Mangalore and Udupi could do so much in Delhi being the elected representatives. 'What is the use of stopping the Chennai-bound trains in Mangalore and inconvenience the innocent passengers and demand trains to Karwar? Instead, they should hold the same dharna in Delhi' says Ranganath, a regular traveller. 'Whenever we ask these elected leaders, they keep saying that they have written letters to the union minister. As if mere letters would do wonders, ' adds he.
Will the elected representatives take a cue from the south of the boundary? It's time they shirked off their lethargy, give up the blame game and do something constructive.
