Karnataka - Bijapur   

Rail clips diverted to Hassan-Mangalore line

By Our Staff Correspondent

BIJAPUR, MARCH 22. A consignment of around 40,000 rail clips meant for the Bijapur-Gadag gauge conversion work, has been diverted to the Hassan-Mangalore gauge conversion project.

A truckload of elastic rail-clips needed for joining rails and sleepers had arrived at the railway yard here in the second week of March.

Officials were about to release it to the contracting agency executing the gauge conversion work on the Bijapur-Telgi section of the Bijapur-Gadag line.

However, South Western Railway authorities directed the officials not to use the consignment as it was meant to be diverted to the Hassan-Mangalore line.

Members of the Broad-gauge Horata Samiti and the Bijapur MLA, Appasaheb Pattanashetti, staged a protest on the office premises of the Deputy Chief Engineer of South Western Railway on March 16 against shifting the rail clips.

They withdrew their agitation after the Chief Engineer of South Western Railway, Jayanthkumar Guria, spoke to Mr. Pattanashetti over telephone and assured him that the rail clips would not be shifted.

The Bijapur MP and former Union Minister of State for Railways, Basanagouda R. Patil Yatnal, also reportedly convinced the Railway authorities not to divert material to other projects.

`No difference'

However, sources in South Western Railway told The Hindu that the rail clips were taken from the railway yard on Sunday night and sent to the project site near Sakleshpur. However, they insisted that it will not make a difference as it is a very small quantity. They also said that the Bijapur section is expected to receive another load of rail clips shortly.

An order for 3.5 lakh rail clips has already been placed, they added.

Work has been completed to lay the broad-gauge line till Telgi. After dismantling the narrow-gauge track, sleepers and rails have been laid on this section.

The Honaganahalli bridge across the Don is also ready. With the 40,000 rail clips, an additional 7 km of the line could have been completed.

Sources said that the diversion of material from one project to another is common in railway projects. It is only a temporary adjustment, they said.

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