G Kishan Reddy: BRS is stalling railway projects in Telangana

Alleging that the BRS government was not cooperating with the Centre on the expansion of the railway network in Telangana, G Kishan Reddy, the BJP Telangana chief and Union tourism minister, stated that the Union government had cleared new railway lines to connect all 33 districts of Telangana and augment the existing network at an estimated cost of Rs 835.43 billion for 5,239 km. Addressing the media at a booth-strengthening programme in the city, he mentioned that the Telangana rail network was poor, only better than the north-eastern states, but the BRS government was not concerned about it. He pointed out that due to the negligence of the state, work on 700 km of railway lines got stalled last year alone. However, he also stated that the Centre had decided to complete the projects, bearing all costs to benefit Telangana. He added that the government was not even cooperating on Yadadri MMTS. Kishan Reddy also requested the state government to assist in acquiring land for all projects in the pipeline, as well as the regional ring road rail project, which had been delayed. He mentioned that at Cherlapalli, Umdanagar, and Secunderabad stations, land had been requested for expansion and approach roads, but no response had been received. The minister further stated that 30 projects approved by the Centre would connect urban areas with over a lakh people, pilgrim centres, mines, cement plants, and constituencies, with 15 being new lines and an equal number doubling or tripling existing lines. The Secunderabad MP stated that the Modi government had ensured that 55 km of railway line was built in the last nine years, as opposed to 17 km under the UPA government until 2014. He added that while all major stations were being redeveloped, Mudkhed-Medchal, Mahabubnagar-Dhone, and Guntur-Bibinagar had already been cleared for multi-tracking. Also read:  Delhi Metro's Unlimited Ride Scheme Boosts Tourism MRVC to revamp Mumbai's Harbour Line Stations for Rs 1.3 bn