Six years on, Mangalore-Hassan line hangs fire

mangalore: if the remarks of union railway minister nitish kumar about having to present a ``difficult budget'''' for the coming fiscal can be taken at face value, mangloreans can rest assured the mangalore-hassan gauge conversion from meter to broad gauge won''t see the light of day in the near future. sadly, though this mangalore-hassan gauge conversion has been perceived as the vital ``missing link'''' in the economic progress of this region and its hinterland, local mps, state mps, even h.d.deve gowda when he was prime minister, did precious little to hasten the completion of the project. gauge conversion will not only usher progress into the region, but also connect the `gateway of karnataka'' to the hinterland. as of now, exporters of the region have to depend on other ports. the mangalore-hassan meter gauge was hailed as an engineering feat when completed in 1978. in 1995-96, the tracks were dismantled for conversion into broad gauge, without allocation of sufficient funds and that was the beginning of the end of the gauge conversion. sources here point out that when the mangalore-hassan gauge line was being laid, the uni-gauge system was being implemented throughout the country and despite the advice of some prominent people here, the idea was side-stepped. if conversion was completed then, the cost would have escalated by a mere rs 1 crore. now, mangloreans have neither the meter gauge nor the broad gauge, due to some short-sighted officials posted here at that time. according to kanara chamber of commerce and industry (kcci) president giridhar prabhu, this vital link should get special attention and the project be completed with haste. not without reason. prabhu says though the gauge conversion cost as on date is about rs 300 crore, the replacement cost of the project is about rs 4,000 crore, which is now lying waste. he says if the estimated funds are released in one go, instead of in paltry amounts like alms, the project can be completed within a year. moreover, he says due to non-completion of the project, potential exports worth rs 3,000 crore per annum are hanging in balance. prabhu says if conversion is completed, nearly 96 lakh tonnes of coal, coke and lime, steel, container traffic and lpg cargo can be routed through this line and the potential of new mangalore port trust (nmpt) can be exploited to the fullest. he also asserts that the line will be a viable proposition in terms of goods and passenger traffic, and the railways can recover its costs within a year of opening up the line. as of now, the project has been swinging like a yo-yo, with funds not flowing either from the centre or the yet-to-be born karnataka railway infrastructure development corporation. local mp v. dhananjaya kumar, who is also union minister of state for textiles, has been happy pushing the project deadline from year to year, polls to polls. he seems mighty pleased taking credit for petty amounts sanctioned by the railway ministry from time to time. kumar''s last deadline for the project was december 2002. if the railway budget on february 25 does not allocate enough funds this fiscal, he will be forced to extend the deadline by another year.