BANGALORE: The sting of bad times doesn’t seem to leave Vijay Mallya alone. The latest blow to the flamboyant business tycoon is iron- clad: the Karnataka government has decided that the railway line it is committed to build between Bangalore and Hassan will cut through Mallya’s stud farm at Kunigal, 75 km from the state capital.
It was no sudden development, however.
Mallya has a six-year track record of trying to convince the Karnataka government and Indian Railways about the virtues of an alternative alignment. The government has now decided to stick to...
more... the original alignment, which means the 250-year- old stud farm, known for breeding some of the finest racehorses in India, has to be split wide open.
Karnataka Information & Infrastructure Minister Santosh Lad said that the government had ruled out any change in the alignment of the railway track. A high-level meeting chaired by him and the infrastructure department secretary decided to divide the stud farm in the ratio of 64:36 to make way for the railway line. “Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has given his approval to retain the original alignment. Approximately 1.05 km of railway line will pass through the stud farm. We examined all alternatives, but none were economically feasible,” Lad said.
Mallya had urged the government to keep the railway line outside the boundaries of the farm. The government would have had to acquire fertile farmland for that. With the previous BJP government embroiled in land acquisition and de- notification controversies, Siddaramaiah wants to stay clear of development initiatives that use agricultural land.
The idea of taking the railway line underground was also mooted, but even that was struck down.
The railway line between Bangalore and Hassan— a district headquarters and home of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda was approved as a public-private-partnership (PPP) project between the Indian Railways and the Karnataka government way back in 2006. The portion of the railway line between Hassan and Shravanabelagola, a Jain pilgrimage centre, is complete and the section is operational. The Bangalore- Kunigal- Shravanabelagola section of the railway line work will be taken up now.
The entire project was originally expected to cost around Rs 413 crore, but another Rs 100 crore has been added by delays.
Hassan is only 155 km from Bangalore but does not have direct rail connectivity. Train commuters have to travel to Arsikere (180 km from Bangalore) and board another train to Hassan. In all it’s a five-and-half hour train journey from Bangalore to Hassan. Once the new railway line becomes operational, it will reduce travel time to two- and- a- half hours.
The demand for a railway line to Hassan via Shravanabelagola stems from two reasons. Shravanabelagola, an international Jain pilgrimage centre 158 km from Bangalore, witnesses the Mahasmasthaka Abhisheka— anointment of India’s tallest monolithic statue of Bahubali— once every 12 years. Jain pilgrims pour in from across the country and world.
Hassan also happens to be a major international tourist destination because the district’s Belur and Halebid temple complexes, belonging to the Hoysala Empire from 12th century, pull in a lot of tourists.
It has been the endeavour of the government to provide direct rail connectivity to Hassan to boost tourism and local economy.
“We have communicated our decision to the chief administrative officer (construction), South? Western? Railways, and work on the project is expected to start soon,” Lad added
