People awaiting new railway line with bated breath in Medak

Medak: The people of Medchal, Siddipet, Medak, Siricilla and Karimnagar districts have long been aspiring for a railway line connect between Hyderabad – Karimnagar (Manoharabad-Kothapalli), passing through a region, hitherto unconnected on the rail map.

Over 50 lakh population in the region have been habituated to travelling long distances to catch a train service for various destinations. A new ray of hope dawned on the people of five districts in particular and Telangana in general, when Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister, laid the foundation stone for construction of a new railway line connecting Manoharabad in Medak District and Kothapalli in Karimnagar district on August 7, 2016. The new railway line project was sanctioned for a distance of 151.40 kms at an estimated cost of Rs. 1160 cr. An amount of Rs 350 crore was allocated in the 2017-18 and Rs 125 crore in 2018-19 Railway Budget with priority being accorded by Piyush Goyal, the Minister of Railways.

The new rail line is envisaged to pass through several important towns such as Vemulawada (Dakshina Kaashi), Sircilla, Siddipet and Gajwel. The project is also being monitored during PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) meetings, which is a multi-purpose and multi-modal platform launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister. The platform is aimed at addressing common man’s grievances and simultaneously monitoring and reviewing important programs and projects of the Government as well as projects flagged by the State government. The project is being executed in 4 phases and targeted for completion at the earliest.

Work status - 90% of land for this phase-I stretch has already been acquired by the State government and handed over to the Railways for taking up the work. Accordingly, earth work including cutting and embankment, construction of minor bridges etc are in progress and are set to be completed by March 2019. The Manoharabad-Kothapalli new railway line project includes construction of 160 bridges, 7 road over bridges, 49 road under bridges and 13 new railway stations (8 crossing stations and 5 halts). The new railway stations to come up are: Nacharam, Iranagaram (Halt), Gajwel, Kodakandla (Halt), Lakhadaram, Duddeda, Siddipet, Gurralagondi (Halt), Chinnalingapur, Siricilla, Vemulawada, Boinapally and Wedira (Halt).

What makes this new line so crucial is the fact that the entire belt comprising several important towns including pilgrim centers will be seeing the dawn of a new era in terms of rail connectivity to their door steps. For lakhs of pilgrims travelling to Vemulawada every year to seek the blessings of Lord Shiva, handloom weavers of Siddipet and business community of Gajwel, this project will bring in a new standard in travel convenience. Once this new line is completed, it will not only be a step towards development of transportation sector, but will also be a source of empowerment for many, making travel to the metro cities comfortable and easy. The works related to the project will enable provide the opportunity of work to a host lot of unskilled and semi-skilled populace of the region.