Railway zone with Vizag as HQ remains pipe dream as YSRCP, TDP slugfest continues

Reply in Rajya Sabha

In the last official confirmation about the progress on the proposal, in a written reply to BJP Rajya Sabha member GVL Narasimha Rao, the Union Railway Minister in March said that an Officer on Special Duty/SCoR had been posted at Vizag to begin planning and preparatory work for the formation of the new zone.

A Detailed Project Report (DPR) has been submitted by OSD/SCoR for the setting up of the new zone, he said. Accordingly, the “Creation of New South Coast Railway Zone and New Rayagada Division in East Coast Railway” was included in Budget 2020-21 at an estimated cost of ₹170 crore.

Meanwhile, reports suggested that the DPR could not be accepted by the Railway Board as the newly proposed zone would not be feasible on several counts and a political decision has to be taken on it by the Union Cabinet.

SCoR issue takes a political turn

Reacting to to the reports that the project had been shelved, YSRCP parliamentary party leader and Rajya Sabha member V Vijaysai Reddy slammed a section of media for spreading lies about the railway zone. He said he would resign if the SCoR was not created.

YSRCP general secretary and Rajya Sabha member, V Vijaysai Reddy, talking to media on Wednesday.(Supplied)

“When we YSRCP MPs met the Union Railway Minister last time, he had given us assurance that the railway zone with Vizag as headquarters will be created. A section of the media works overtime to tarnish the image of YSRCP. There was no discussion about the railway zone at all at the meeting held by MHA on Tuesday,” Vijaysai Reddy told reporters on Wednesday.

TDP Rajya Sabha member Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar, however, accused the YSRCP of failing to bring pressure on the Centre on the implementation of bifurcation promises and one among them was the creation of a separate railway zone.

“Andhra has given so many MPs to YSRCP and the party literally failed to get what the state legitimately deserves. I don’t understand why YSRCP is unable to exert pressure on the Centre. YSRCP had become a curse on Vizag’s development. It has failed in realising even one bifurcation assurance given by the Centre,” Ravindra Kumar told media.

Demand for railway zone since long

The demand for the separate railway zone has been hanging fire for more than a decade, from even before the separate Telangana agitation gained momentum in 2009.

BJP’s Vizag parliament segment candidate K Haribabu went to polls in 2014 on the plank of achieving the railway zone. The separate zone had also been a rallying point during the 2009 and 2014 polls by all political parties.

The creation of a New railway zone was also part of the AP Reorganisation Act 2014.

On February 27, 2019, the Centre formally announced the creation of the new railway zone.

“As per item 8 of Schedule 13 (Infrastructure) of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014, Indian Railways was required to examine establishing a new railway zone in the successor state of Andhra Pradesh. The matter has been examined in detail in consultation with stakeholders and it has been decided to go ahead with the creation of a new zone with headquarters at Visakhapatnam. The new zone named South Coast Railway (SCoR), will comprise of existing Guntakal, Guntur and Vijayawada divisions. Waltair division shall be split into two parts,” said the then Railway Minister Piyush Goyal while announcing the new zone in New Delhi.

While one part of the Waltair division was to be incorporated in the new zone, the remaining portion was to be converted into a new division with headquarters at Rayagada under East Coast Railway (ECoR). South Central Railway will comprise the Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Nanded divisions

Though a new railway zone with either Vijayawada or Guntur as headquarters makes sense due to the region being centrally located in the state, the Union government had to bow to the sentiments of the north Andhra people and also the pressure exerted by the elected representatives from the region cutting across party lines.

Land pocket identified

Union Railway Minister Vaishnaw in March told the Rajya Sabha that the land pocket for the construction of SCoR Zonal Headquarters Office Complex has been identified and, in order to fast-track the process, the Railways has been directed to take up preliminary activities like land survey, preparation of layout plan of the office complex, residential colony, and other construction prerequisites.

“The decision on the formation of SCoR and its territorial jurisdiction had been taken after due consideration taking all relevant factors into account, including administrative and operational requirements. The proposal of the Ministry of Railways for setting up a new zone (SCoR) with headquarter at Visakhapatnam and a new division with headquarter at Rayagada, in lieu of existing Waltair division, by reorganising the existing South Central Railway and East Coast Railway, has been approved by the Cabinet,” he had said.