Bengaluru: Land acquisition bottlenecks have delayed five new railway lines in Karnataka, the Centre told Parliament recently, emphasising that progress hinges on support from the state govt. In a written reply to a question by BJP’s Govind Karjol in the Lok Sabha, railways minister Ashwini Vaishnav said the Whitefield-Kolar, Hassan-Belur, Shivamogga-Ranebennur, Belagavi-Dharwad and Shivamogga-Harihar projects are facing land acquisition. Of the 1,945 hectares required for these five lines, only 226 hectares have been acquired so far, and that to for the Shivamogga-Ranebennur project. No land acquisition has taken place for the other four lines, he said. However, in response to a query by TOI, the state infrastructure development department (IDD) said acquisition is progressing based on availability of funds. It said railways was told of local issues affecting the process. “Land acquisition issues are few, and we’ve been working to resolve them. We regularly review them with district deputy commissioners. For example, in the case of Dharwad-Belagavi rail line, there have been objections from some landowners who have sought a change in alignment. Even in complicated cases like this, we have been cooperating with railways department and getting work done,” said MB Patil, IDD minister.On the Dharwad-Belagavi line, those owning 42 acres in Dharwad have disputed the acquisition process. Minister of state for railways V Somanna has instructed the railways department to “consider” a possible change in alignment.For the Shivamogga-Ranebennur line, the state has approved acquisition of an additional 84 acres and is preparing for a 96-acre buyout, apart from 558 hectares already acquired for the project. On the Hassan-Belur stretch, the state govt acknowledged delays but said it would complete the process to acquire 220 hectares soon. Overall, Vaishnav said 3,357 hectares of land — 37% of the total 9,064 hectares required for railway projects in the state — are yet to be acquired. So far, 5,707 hectares have been acquired and handed over to railways. “The govt of India is prepared to execute projects, but success depends on support of the govt of Karnataka,” the railway minister said.
