The Hindu : Work on rail project comes to a halt

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 26, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Work on rail project comes to a halt

By Our Staff Reporter

TIRUPATI, MARCH 25. The rail underbridge (RUB) project at the Tirupati East police station point is caught in the eye of a storm and work on it has come to a grinding halt. Events like aggrieved businessmen moving court, abrupt stopping of the work and agitation by political parties seeking its resumption in a short span further make a mess of the ambitious project. For residents on the southern side of the temple town, who are vexed with the often-down railway gate at all the three level crossings in the town, the completion of the project to connect the railway station road and the DR Mahal road is a dream come true.

With a number of residential colonies sprouting in Avilala, Muthyala Reddypalle and Tiruchanur skirting Tirupati on the south, the need for a proper access way is increasingly felt. This apart, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) management runs two huge choultries on this road and hundreds of pilgrims preferring to stay in them will invariably have to risk their lives by physically crossing the track at this point in the absence of a foot overbridge.

The railways and the Tirupati municipality agreed to go Dutch on the Rs.3-crore project and work on it began last month. However, a controversy related to land has brought it to a halt. Some businessmen on the DR Mahal road moved court claiming that the master plan drafted by the municipality/TUDA is not being adhered to in execution of the work. Their contention is that the inclined approach road to the bridge was being laid so close to their property that they might be deprived of sufficient road space.

They wanted the road to be a minimum of 5.50-metre wide as stipulated in the master plan.

There is already uncertainty over the ownership of the said land with the municipality and the railways swapping their respective properties as a form of adjustment. When the work has been stopped, leaders of the Congress resorted to agitation and staged a rail roko at the railway station four days ago demanding resumption of the work. They have alleged that it has been stopped only to benefit a TDP leader who is one of the affected businessmen. With the issue assuming political significance, the fate of the project hangs in the balance.

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Andhra Pradesh