Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Jul 6: State BJP president and Udupi MP D V Sadananda Gowda said that he is keen for the day train between the city and Bangalore to commence operations early, as the Shiradi Ghat stretch of the road will again be closed for concreting shortly. He said, he will fight with the union government in the Lok Sabha for getting the train sanctioned at the earliest. He was speaking to reporters at his residence on Sunday July 5.

He also promised to speak to the state transport minister to run additional buses to Bangalore via Charmadi Ghat and Madikeri, during the period the Shiradi Ghat stretch of national highway 48 will remain closed. He also stressed the need to execute the concreting work on the road fast, in view of the problems the people will be facing, and cut the period of execution of the road works, from the eight months presently proposed.

In the meanwhile, Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the railway minister to drop the proposal to extend the train between the city and Bangalore to Kannur. In a faxed request addressed to minister Mamata Bannerjee, KCCI said, over 6,000 people travel between the state capital and the city on a daily basis. Once the train is extended, people of the district will face lot of problems, KCCI president Srinivas S Kamat said in the petition.

Puttur Railway Travellers Association president D K Bhat strongly opposed the argument being put forth by a railway officer, that the extension of the train to Kannur was in consonance with a decision taken by former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to ensure that the trains do not idle in any station for over six hours, as it cuts into the revenues of the railway department. At present, the train stays in the city for about 12 hours. Bhat said, the only purpose of extending this lone train between the city and Bangalore to Kannur, is to benefit the Keraleans. Secretary of the Association M R Prabhu stated that the department could have extended the train to Karwar if it wanted to utilize the train to the maximum, instead of Kerala.

District president of the BJP Monappa Bhandary through a release, said that step-motherly treatment like the extension of the train between the city and Bangalore to Kannur, will be protested against.