Mounesh Vishwakarma

Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal

Bantwal, Jul 17: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, July 17, dedicated the newly-renovated Bantwal railway station to the nation via video conferencing. The station was upgraded at a cost of Rs 26.18 crore under the central government's ambitious Amrit Bharat Station scheme.

Participating in the inaugural ceremony held at the Bantwal railway station, Dakshina Kannada member of parliament Capt Brijesh Chowta stressed the need for merging the Konkan Railway corporation into the Indian Railways to accelerate the overall development of the coastal railway network. He also highlighted that priority would be given to constructing a new railway line between Subramanya and Sakleshpur along the Shiradi Ghat stretch.

"Efforts are underway to include the Puttur railway station under the Amrit Bharat scheme in the coming phases. Meanwhile, the ongoing development works at the Subramanya railway station are in the final stages, and it will be inaugurated shortly," the MP said.

He further mentioned that the infrastructure required to operate a Vande Bharat express train between Mangaluru and Bengaluru is being expedited, with electrification works nearing completion. "A local passenger train is already successfully operating between Mangaluru and Subramanya, providing affordable travel to commuters at a ticket fare of just Rs 25," Chowta added, seeking the cooperation of railway users to maintain and support the developing infrastructure.

Member of legislative council Kishore Kumar, former ministers B Nagaraja Shetty, former MLAs K Padmanabha Kottari and A Rukmaya Poojary, railway divisional manager Mudit Mittal, and senior engineer (Gati Shakti) Anand Bharati were present.

Padma Shri awardees Harekala Hajabba and Mahalinga Naik, along with railway action committee activists and BJP district president Satish Kumpala, also attended the event.

Prior to the prime minister's virtual address, local school children and railway staff presented cultural programmes, which included Chende percussion performances, Talamaddale, and Yakshagana recitals. Due to heavy rains, the stage programme, which was originally scheduled to be held outdoors, was shifted to platform number one. Large LED screens were set up across the station premises for the public to watch the prime minister's address.