CPI(M) leaders and activists stage a protest in Visakhapatnam demanding early operationalisation of the South Coast Railway Zone.
| Photograph Credit score: The Hindu

With the final elections quick approaching, the YSR Congress Occasion (YSRCP) authorities within the State and the Bharatiya Janata Occasion (BJP)-led authorities on the Centre try to finish tasks that have been placed on the again burner for lengthy. The South Coast Railway (SCoR) Zone challenge, which was introduced in 2019 and forgotten after, is one such challenge.

The Modi authorities’s announcement of the SCoR Zone challenge, with its headquarters in Visakhapatnam, earlier than the 2019 basic elections got here as an enormous aid for the folks of north Andhra Pradesh. Nevertheless, disappointment quickly set in, as there appeared to be no progress on the challenge. For 5 years, the Railway Board saved saying that the detailed challenge report was being examined and that no time-frame might be mounted for operationalisation of the Zone.

The BJP has blamed the YSRCP authorities for the delay, however this clarification has failed to chop ice with rail customers. Activists have instructed that the BJP authorities ought to search for alternate options to operationalise the Zone as a substitute of making an attempt to move the buck to the State authorities. They imagine {that a} Basic Supervisor could be appointed instantly, and that the workplace buildings and workers quarters constructed as a part of the Section-II enlargement of the Visakhapatnam Metal Plant (VSP), which aren’t in use, can be utilized because the SCoR Zonal Headquarters.

Additionally learn | Expedite development of South Coast Railway Zone headquarters in Visakhapatnam, GVL urges Centre

They’ve additionally requested why the Railway authorities usually are not utilizing railway land which has already been recognized, and is near the Visakhapatnam railway station, to assemble the SCoR Zonal headquarters. The truth is, the plaque on the website was readied for unveiling by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2022. Nevertheless, a day earlier than Mr. Modi’s go to, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw visited the realm late at evening and expressed his unhappiness with the location. He introduced that he would love a “world-class zonal headquarters constructing in Visakhapatnam.” The officers knowledgeable him that another website was accessible near the picturesque Mudasarlova reservoir. Although the State authorities has taken possession of this land for handing it over to the Railways, a small portion of the land is caught in a authorized dispute, say sources. Regardless of this, the Minister insists on having the headquarters near Mudasarlova as a substitute of the available railway land.

In October 2022, BJP leaders instructed The Hindu that the scheduled laying of the inspiration stone by Mr. Modi was intentionally postponed because the occasion believed that the YSRCP authorities would get credit score for the railway zone.

Throughout his go to to the Simhachalam Railway Station in Visakhapatnam on December 9, 2023, Mr. Vaishnaw mentioned that the Centre was working with the State authorities to resolve the difficulty pertaining to land acquisition in Mudasarlova. Rail customers say that the Centre might have initiated this transfer a very long time in the past as a substitute of blaming the YSRCP authorities. The State authorities, on its half, is allegedly reluctant to evict encroachers and earn their wrath earlier than the elections.

The resentment of the folks of Visakhapatnam area elevated after the formation of the East Coast Railway (ECoR) Zone in 2003. Later, the Waltair Division was merged with the ECoR Zone. The officers of the ECoR Zone appeared to care little for the wants of the folks of north Andhra — as an example, by failing to introduce each day direct trains from Visakhapatnam junction to Chennai and Bengaluru. In addition they prolonged standard trains working from Hyderabad and Bengaluru to Visakhapatnam, to Bhubaneswar, however did not concede to the calls for of the folks to increase long-distance trains terminating at Bhubaneswar, Puri and Sambalpur, to Visakhapatnam. There are a number of such examples of the calls for of the folks being ignored.

Union Minister Kishen Reddy had additionally written to Mr. Vaishnaw about this injustice. He mentioned that the favored Visakha Categorical and Prasanthi Categorical, which have been terminating at Visakhapatnam junction, has been prolonged to Bhubaneswar. This transfer, he mentioned, had disadvantaged the folks of Visakhapatnam area of their quota of berths.

With elections drawing close to, it’s hoped that the State and Central governments will kind out their points and guarantee operationalisation of the SCoR Zonal quickly. Nevertheless, given the inordinate delay and lack of clear explanations for it, that is prone to stay a pipe dream.