Reacting to the 1 crore allocation for Bengaluru Suburban Railway sources said they expected Rs 200 crore in the budget for the project. “Once the detailed estimate is sanctioned, further grants will be allotted in the next stages of the budget,” an official said.
Suburban rail activists are unhappy. “We’re disappointed,” said rail enthusiast Abhishek R. “We expected major allocation,” said Krishna Prasad, member of Karnataka Railway Vedike, an NGO.
SWR general manager AK Singh said the budget will give a boost to ongoing infrastructure works in the zone. E Vijaya, chief public relations officer, SWR, said: “Bengaluru suburban rail work cost is now Rs 23,050 crore. It received a grant of Rs 1 crore only because necessary approvals are yet to be received. Once the detailed project report is approved, funds will be made available. During various stages of budgetary review, requirement of funds will be projected and funds commensurate with the pace of work will be arranged.”
Other Projects Cleared
Allocation of Rs 5 crore each for two major doubling projects — Yeshwantpur-Channasandra (21.7 km) and Byappanahalli-Hosur (48 km). For Bengaluru Cantonment-Whitefield (23km) quadrupling, Rs 100 crore was allocated and Rs 8 crore was sanctioned for Byappanhalli third terminal. It has also sanctioned money for various road underbridges and road over bridges in places like Kodigehalli, Carmelaram-Byappanahalli and Banaswadi-Hebbal sections. The Railways has sanctioned automatic signalling system on Bengaluru -Jolarpettai and Yeswantpur-Yelahanka sections. Other proposals approved include improvement of station building and foot over bridge at KR Puram station. It also suggested a state-of-the-art signalling system on Bengaluru- Dharmavaram and Bengaluru-Jolarpettai sections.