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MPs demand more rail, road facilities

PUDUCHERRY: Members of Parliament M. Ramadoss and V. Narayanansamy from the Union Territory have urged the Central Government to enhance rail and road facilities in the Union Territory, particularly in view of increasing tourist inflow.

General secretary of the All India Congress Committee and Lok Sabha Member Narayanasamy requested with the Union Railway Ministry to implement a scheme linking Nagoor, Velankanni and Tirunallar in view of a large number of pilgrims visiting these areas.

In a statement here, he said, the issue had been raised in the Rajya Sabha. He commended the Ministry for introducing new train services including the one linking Puducherry and Bhubaneswar. He also reiterated his demand to extend the Tindivanam-Nagari train service to Puducherry and Cuddalore.

Mr. Narayanasamy wanted to know when the East Coast train service connecting Puducherry and Mahabalipuram would be introduced.

Pattali Makkal Katchi Parliamentary party leader Mr. Ramadoss said in a release here on Friday that he had raised the issue in the Lok Sabha.

The physical infrastructure such as roads, railways, airways and waterways was awfully inadequate or nearly absent in the Karaikal region, he added.

With a view to overcoming the region’s backwardness and accelerating its development, the Puducherry Government had declared Karaikal as a separate district recently, he pointed out.

“The district is not at all connected by railways. The only means of common transport is roads, which are in a miserable condition,” Mr. Ramadoss said, adding that the tsunami and natural disasters had worsened the road conditions.

Mr. Ramadoss said though Karaikal had been attracting a large number of tourists, and as many famous temples were located there, the tourists and the locals found it difficult to reach the region.

He urged the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways to connect Karaikal by national highways or State highways with Sirkazhi, Mayiladuthurai and Kumbakonam to catalyse its economic, social and tourist development.

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