Nellore: New railway bridge works on river Penna gains pace

Nellore: Works of third railway line bridge on the river Penna has gained momentum as the Railway authorities have focused on its early completion. The major portion of the basic structure of bridge has been completed on the river.

The Ministry of Railways had sanctioned the new third line connecting Duvvada and Gudur with roughly Rs 3,000 crore and allocated half of the budget for the first phase. South Central Railway also called for tenders on Oct 26, 2017, for works between Nellore and Gudur stations for techno-commercial and price bids under two packet system.

In fact, railway authorities started works of third line in 2018 between Gudur and Vijayawada as part of Chennai and Howrah Mainline. Indian Railways engaged its own commercial arm, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), for taking up the works initially between Gudur and Bitragunta railway stations.

The Indian Railways has been facing severe strain due to an increase in railway passengers and shipment of goods. Good transportation has also become difficult as there are only two lines that have been primarily occupied with passenger trains. So, Indian Railways proposed to divert many trains to the third line enabling free movement of express and non-express trains.

Execution of earthwork, construction of minor bridges and other works such as the construction of stations and others have been proposed between Kommarapudi and Nellore stations. The RVNL also segregated works into various packets and started works of an additional railway bridge on the river Pennar in Nellore city limits for trouble-free works in other parts of the division.

Still, evacuation of encroachments close to the bridge and also other places in the city have been delayed due to the intervention of politicos. The evacuation was linked to rehabilitation arrangements which finally led to sluggish activity.

Earlier, then Municipal Minister P Narayana announced that they would construct houses for the people who are residing in the encroachment areas and then evacuate them. So, the railway officials confined to clearing only vacant places for developing the line. Meanwhile, officials have laid the line at many places in the district where a convenient environment for continuing the works.

An official from the RVNL said they cannot explain the development of bridge works officially but indicated there has been significant progress in the works during the last six months.