Railway Minister Muniyappa oversees preparations for Sonia Gandhi’s visit

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Oct 15, 2012 : K. H. Muniyappa, union minister for railways and member of the Lok Sabha Kolar constituency of Karnataka, is overseeing preparations for Sonia Gandhi’s visit to Mangalore. Addressing the press today, Muniyappa said that AICC President Sonia Gandhi will arrive on Oct 18 and will visit Kudroli Temple on the same day. She will be accompanied by Congress leaders Oscar Fernandes, Mallikarjun Kharge, Veerappa Moily, and S. M. Krishna, he said and added that preparations are being made for her visit.

Further, he complained that the state government is not utilizing funds earmarked for schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee, which guarantees 100 days of paid employment per fiscal year to each rural household. He said that the state government has not only failed to utilize any central government facility, but has also misappropriated central government funds.

Speaking about railway issues, he said that the Railway Vision 2020 requires huge sums of money. When reporters wanted to know about a separate railway division for Mangalore, Muniyappa said that there are no plans to create a separate Mangalore division at present, but separate divisions will be created for Mangalore and Gulbarga in the future.

Stating that the railways are not limited to states or districts, he said that at least 5 acres are required to construct a railway station meeting international standards in Mangalore, but the railways have only 2 acres of land. He said that the issue has been discussed with DC Dr. Channappa Gowda, adding that it is now up to the district administration to provide the land required for this project.

He also said that plans are afoot to extend Karntaka’s rail track of 3,089kms by another 1,500kms within the next 3 years. Revealing further information, he said that Coastal Karnataka is covered by the Konkan railway network, which includes a 2,023m bridge across River Sharavathy in Honnavar and a 2,960m tunnel at Karwar.

Among those present were Ramanath Rai, district Congress president; Ivan D’Souza, KPCC secretary; MLA U. T. Khader.