No ray of hope for Kanaka Line in Bengaluru as South Western Railways delay handing over land

Bengaluru: The Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project's Corridor-4 (Kanaka Line) work is yet to take shape as the South Western Railways has not handed over its land for the project, saying "it's complicated".

The Kanaka Line connects Rajanukunte in the north to Heelalige in the south, passing through Baiyappanahalli and Yelahanka.

Despite Railway Board Gati Shakti director Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed asking the South Western Railway General Manager to expedite the process of handing over land to Karnataka's Rail Infrastructure Development Company Limited (K-RIDE), there seemed to be a delay.

In his letter on October 27, Ahmed reminded the SWR GM that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the project will be completed in 40 months while laying the foundation stone on June 20, 2022.

"During the review of the project, it is learnt that the Letter of Agreement of contract for Corridor-4 is not being issued by K-RIDE, due to unavailability of required land for Corridor-4. K-RIDE has stated that the proposal for 194.07 acre railway land has already been submitted to Zonal Railway," the Gati Shakti Director (Railway Board) said.

"In view of the above, the Zonal Railway is requested to make the land available to K-RIDE for Corridor-4 in order to complete the project on the given timeline," he added.

Speaking to PTI, Bengaluru Divisional Railway Manager Yogesh Mohan said, "These are not so simple. It's a complicated issue."

"Citizens for Citizens', an NGO led by Rajkumar Dugar, who has been fighting for the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project for the past many years, termed the South Western Railways" stand disappointing.

"If this is their stand, then it is extremely disappointing because BSRP is Railways' baby. If the senior officials are so casual at this stage after three years (of conceiving the project), then the future does not look bright for this project," the NGO founder said.

Dugar said the railway officials need to understand that there is a deadline of 40 months set by the Prime Minister himself.

When contacted, a K-RIDE official declined to comment on the issue, saying that the SWR officials know that the PM himself has set a deadline of 40 months and 16 months have already lapsed.