The Hindu Business Line : New rail siding at Kakinada gets Board approval

A SEPARATE rail line (siding) connecting the port station here and the deepwater port would be constructed at a cost of Rs 15 crore and this would boost the cargo volumes at the port and the rail freight, Mr B. Dattatreya, Union Minister of State for Railways, has said.

At a press conference here in the town station, after visiting the port and port station, he said rail infrastructure at Kakinada was poor and the cost of the new line would be borne by the Kakinada Seaports Ltd, the private consortium operating the new port, and the asset would be maintained by the Railways.

He said the Railway Board had agreed in-principle to the project and the freight volume would rise to 5.8 million tonnes by 2005 from the present level of 3 lakh tonnes.

Mr Dattatreya said Rs 15 lakh would be spent in the next one or two months on immediate improvement of infrastructure in view of the increased traffic at the Kakinada anchorage port.

He said in future Kakinada and Krishnapatnam ports would have to play a vital role, as the Chennai port would cease handling iron ore from Karnataka by 2004. These two ports would have to handle the ore.

He said the Krishnapatnam port would be developed by Natco-led consortium and of the total cost of Rs 800 crore, Rs 300 crore would have to spent on laying a rail line between Rajampet and Krishnapatnam. The survey for the project had been completed and a MOU would have to be signed by the Railways with Natco.

Referring to the issue of bringing Kakinada on the main line, hanging fire for more than five decades, he said the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs would have to clear the Kakinada-Pithapuram line, costing Rs 68.27 crore, and the Railways had allotted a nominal amount of Rs 1 lakh.

For the revival of Kakinada-Kotipalli rail line, which would cost Rs 64.69 crore, Rs 15.25 crore had been spent so far and the work would be completed by March, 2004. There would have to be a sizable allocation in the next budget for the project, he said. He said for the Kotipalli-Narsapuram rail line (59 km), Rs 8 crore had been allocated in the current budget. He could not state when the project would be completed.

Earlier, in the Cocanada Chamber of Commerce hall, a petition was given to the Minister urging the Railways to lay new rail sidings and to improve the infrastructure at the existing sidings. Mr D. Surya Rao, President of the chamber, said the port railway station was earning as much as Rs 98.5 crore per annum and still it was not receiving adequate attention.

Mr S.S Krishnaji, President of Andhra Pradesh Passengers' Association, submitted a petition to the Minister, seeking a categorical assurance from the Railway Minister on the floor of Parliament on bringing Kakinada on the main line by laying a double line between Pithapuram and Kakinada.

He said the association would withdraw its petition in the Andhra Pradesh High Court against the Railways, on charges of partiality and discrimination, if the Minister gave such an assurance.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail
Comment on this article to BLFeedback@thehindu.co.in

Stories in this Section
Air India profit at Rs 40 crore in H1

Riverine States to benefit from new Central scheme

US West Coast port strike fallout — Congestion surcharge to hit Indian garment exporters

TAMP rejects Tuticorin port's tariff hike plan

Elbee to expand franchisee network

New rail siding at Kakinada gets Board approval