Visakhapatnam: Prestigious Waltair division to go off railway map

Visakhapatnam: With steps related to the new railway zone gaining momentum, the prestigious Waltair division is soon going to disappear from the East Coast Railway (ECoR).

It has been close to three years since any announcement has been made regarding the establishment of the South Coast Railway (SCoR) zone with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters. For the officials, it took two years to prepare a DPR (detailed project report) and submit a report to the Railway Board.

Except a minimum budget allocated in 2020-21, no major allocation was made in subsequent budgets. Meanwhile, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said the new South Coast Railway zone has been officially approved by the Central government. After the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the new railway zone was announced in 2019. Though Rs 170 crore has been allocated for setting up SCoR in the 2020-21 union budget, the operational works have not been commenced yet. In Parliament, when BJP MP G V L Narasimha Rao asked about the status of the new zone, the railway minister responded saying the SCoR zone will get on track soon.

Ashwini Vaishnaw also said that the location for the establishment of the zone head office has also been finalised. Further, he directed the officials to expedite the process of the land survey, office layout planning, work related to staff quarters, among others. The railway minister informed that a committee was set up with the authorities concerned to look into the suggestions received on the DPR regarding the formation of the zone. Land has been identified for the construction of the SCoR zone headquarters building complex.

But union representatives, people of north Andhra and politicians have raised objections to the removal of the Waltair division, which holds a significant and long history. They questioned what was the need to remove the division from the zone? They suggested that the officials concerned take a look at the history and how the new zones were set up in the past. The announcement of the Rayagada division in place of Waltair did not go down well among people. The Waltair division is one of the biggest revenue generators in ECoR.

Earlier, the government had allotted 57 acres at Arilova area to the railways for the proposed zonal office. Although the site was allocated, it was not yet handed over to the railways. Local officials say they have not identified the land needed for the zonal office, and the site is not currently under the control of the railways.

A comprehensive project report (DPR) on the railway zone was prepared and submitted to the Railway Board two years ago. Assessment was made on how the number of staff needed for the zonal office and how much it would cost to set up a new zone. However, with the formation of the Senior Administrative Grade Level Committee to look into all the issues at a deeper level, the proposal seems to take wings.