HUBLI: Prahlad Joshi, MP for Dharwad North, has said that he is puzzled over the apathy of the State Government in getting environmental clearance for the Hubli-Ankola railway line project.

Despite repeated efforts made by him to get the Government to act, it continues to be indifferent. "I am not able to comprehend what the State Government wants and what it desires," the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said in a chat with presspersons here on Thursday.

Mr. Joshi recalled that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests had practically sealed the fate of the project by rejecting the plea for the clearance of over 360 hectares of forest land required for the project. While the State Government and South Western Railway did not pursue the matter, he persuaded the Ministry to reconsider the plea and South Western Railway and the State Government were asked to make a joint representation to the Forest Advisory Committee of the Ministry making out a case for getting clearance for the use of the forest land required for the project. The matter has been hanging fire for almost a year with no initiative being taken by the State Government to sort out the issue, Mr. Joshi said.

It was only recently that South Western Railway made a representation on its own to the Ministry scaling down its requirements and seeking clearance.

The representation had been forwarded to the State Government for its comments, but it is yet to react. This has put the Rs. 965-crore project, which is of crucial importance to the economy of the State in jeopardy, Mr. Joshi said.

He will again take up the matter with the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, Mr. Joshi said. He is also trying to mobilise support from others to prevail upon the Government not to lose any more time on this, he said.

He has deliberately avoided politicising the issue, since it is of economic importance to the State and should be pursued in an atmosphere free from political polemics, Mr. Joshi said.

He expressed surprise over the claim made by the Minister for Science and Technology, Basavaraj Horatti, about getting clearances for some of the road projects to be executed with assistance received from the Centre under the Central Road Fund.

The proposals, which Mr. Horatti had talked about, were the ones that he (Mr. Joshi) had made earlier and secured sanction provided the proposals came from the State Government, he said.

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