Rajamahendravaram: 20 years on, Kotipalli-Narsapur railway line project yet to see light of the day

Rajamahendravaram: Kotipalli-Narsapur railway line, which is the long cherished desire of the people of Konaseema area in the district, is still in doldrums and god only knows when it will be completed. With the initiative of the then Lok Sabha Speaker GMC Balayogi, former Union Railway minister Mamatha Benerjee laid foundation stone of the project at Amalapuram on November 16th, 2000. At the time of the commencement of the project, its estimation cost was Rs 2,120 crore and now its cost is escalated to nearly Rs 3,000 crore and for 20 years sufficient funds were never released.

As per the agreement, the State government has to bear 25 percent of thetotal project cost (nearly Rs 500 crore). But, the then TDP government released only Rs 2 crore. Meanwhile, the Central government sanctioned an amount of Rs 1,780 crore and released Rs 797 crore but the TDP government did not released its share.

With this, construction works of bridges with Central government released funds of Rs 797 crore were commenced on River Gowthami between Kotipalli and Sanapallilanka, on River Vynateya between Bodasakurru and Pasarlapudi and on River Vasista between Dindi and Chinchinada. Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy gave consent to bear 25 percent of total cost and issued a GO in the year 2004 and the Central government gave its nod and issued a GO also. But, with the sudden demise of Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy, the issue was set aside and later TDP which came to power in 2014 in the bifurcated State, released Rs 2 crore.

The length of the railway track is 57 kms, which passes through 29 villages, 3 bridges on rivers, 8 railway stations. It will benefit 30 lakh people. 234 of 600 acres land was acquired have been acquired. According to a farmer, M Rama Raju of Amalapuram, the people in Konaseema area expecting that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will release the State government's share as the railway line was also the dream of former Chief Minister Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy.

A businessman A Lakshman opined that Kotipalli- Narsapur railway line can be used as second railway line and paddy, coconut and aqua products etc also can be transported across the country.