Hubli-Ankola railway line in Karnataka still in pending

Almost 62 years have passed, still the proposed 163-km long railway line between Hubli and Ankola, which is supposed to connect the north Karnataka hinterland to the Karwar port, appears to be a never-ending wait for the people of the state.

More than Rs 300 crore spent on laying the track covering a distance of about 45 km and creating infrastructure facilities. But yet the project got grounded after the railway authorities failed to get the environmental clearance from the union ministry of environment and forest indicating that the introduction of train services is likely to take longer. Now there is a renewed hope after Mallikarjun M Kharge was made the Minister of Railways.

The project requires not just the environmental clearance but also additional Rs 3,000 crore. Now that the Unesco has declared the Western Ghats (through which the proposed railway line will pass) as World Heritage site, it will be another Herculean task to get the green nod for the project. It all started in 1951 when the then president of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce, Hubli S S Yelmali made a formal demand for Hubli-Karwar railway line.

But then union minster of state for railways and transport K Santhanam turned it down saying he did not think the volume of traffic justified the construction of the line at a huge cost. After a lot of hue and cry in the early 1990s, the Railway Board sanctioned it in 1996 and work started in 2001. The 45-km stretch of railway line has already been completed from Hubli to Kalghatagi. Presently, the issue of environment clearance is pending before the Supreme court for Kalghatagi-Ankola stretch since the area comes under forest zone.