AP funds sought for Kotipalli-Narsapur rail line

Mangalagiri: TDP Amalapuram parliament segment in-charge Ganti Harish Mathur Balayogi hailed the allocation of Rs 358 crore for Kotipalli-Narsapur railway line.

Harish appealed to the State government to release the required matching grant immediately to start the remaining works. This railway line has been a decade-old dream of the people of Konaseema.

In a statement here on Friday, the TDP leader thanked Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for responding positively. Harish submitted a representation to the Union Railway Minister at his office in Delhi on January 6.

Harish Balayogi said that the Konaseema region would witness all round development if the railway line would become a reality soon. It was with the initiative of Lok Sabha former Speaker GMC Balayogi that the new Kotipalli-Narsapur line was sanctioned in 2000-01.

The TDP leader said that till now, over Rs 1,048 crore was spent on this project against a total sanctioned amount of Rs 2,120 crore.

The State government would have to bear 25 per cent of the project cost. However, the Jagan Mohan Reddy government had deposited just Rs 2.69 crore towards its share, he pointed out.

TDP leader Harish asked why the State government was not releasing its share to complete the project at the earliest. Chief Minister Jagan was betraying the people of Konaseema by not fulfilling his promise for their development, he criticised.