No railway zone to AP?

No railway zone to AP: The Union Home Office held a crucial meeting on the PA Forking Act 2014 in which officials from the Telugu states participated. In a big twist in the story, the Railway Board reported at this meeting that it is not possible to establish a new Railway Zone in Vizag. However, the Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Ajay Bhalla, opposed the opinion of the Chairman of the Board of Railways on the Vizag railway zone.

“Leave it to the Union Cabinet, they will take care of it,” Ajay Bhalla told the chairman of the Railway Board. 14 points were on the agenda of this meeting which includes financial assistance from the GoI to the new capital, grants to seven backward districts of AP, the establishment of educational institutions, Rapid Rail Connectivity to the new capital, and others.

AP Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma led the team and asked the GoI to sanction Rs 1000 crore for the development of the capital city, Amaravati. But the Home Ministry officials inquired about the details of the previous spending of Rs 1,500 crore. AP officials also pointed to the proposals mentioned in the Sivaramakrishnan committee that proposed Rs 29,000 crore for the development of the new capital city.

But the biggest of all was the Railroad Zone. This demand has been pending for years and in recent sessions of Parliament, the Union Minister for Railways, Ashwini Vaishnav, made a statement that everything is ready to establish a railway zone.

Immediately after the declaration of the Minister of the Union, there was great expectation for the Railway Zone. Now the Railway Board has changed its mind and has stated that it is not feasible to establish a new Railway Zone in Vizag. This could generate a great deal of outrage.

The Union Home Office reportedly turned down a couple of requests from AP and Telangana. The two-hour meeting ended without any logical conclusion and both Telugu state officials were disappointed.