SCoR zone with Vizag as HQ may become a reality
A view of Visakhapatnam railway station
Visakhapatnam: Following the recent meeting convened by the Union Home Ministry to address the pending bifurcation issues between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Visakhapatnam witnessed a furrore as the meeting gave an impression that a new railway zone appeared to be not so viable.
At a time when the new South Coast Railway (SCoR) zone with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters was about to realise, the 'unofficial campaign' of the SCoR proposal not only drew the attention of the political parties but also created a political unrest.
As soon as the news broke out, the communist parties took out a protest against the Union government's decision, while the TDP blamed it on the state government' futile efforts in making the much-awaited proposal a reality.
However, the BJP has struck the false campaign down stating that it was not true and assured that the SCoR zone with Vizag as its headquarters would be a reality soon.
For decades, people from across North Andhra have been fighting relentlessly for the new railway zone. As a part of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act of 2014, the Union government announced that a new railway zone would be set up. The detailed project report (DPR) regarding the same was kept pending for long and is currently under review.
According to the proposal, SCoR zone would comprise existing Guntakal, Guntur and Vijayawada Divisions and part of Waltair Division to be merged with Vijayawada Divisions. Balance part of Waltair to be made as a new Division with HQ at Rayagada under East Coast Railway (ECoR). South Central Railway would comprise existing Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Nanded divisions.
Meanwhile, 'Creation of New South Coast Railway Zone and New Rayagada Division in ECoR' was included in budget 2020-21 at an estimated cost of Rs.170 crore.
However, BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao mentioned that discussions were held with Railway Board Chairman VK Tripathi who is in favour of SCoR and the process is in progress.
Speaking to The Hans India, BJP MLC PVN Madhav made it clear that the exercise for the new SCoR zone has already been commenced and the campaign about the zone not being feasible is nothing but a false propaganda.