Kakinada: The long-pending railway project linking Kakinada with Chennai-Howrah main railway line at Pithapuram makes no headway even after an allocation of Rs 50 crore to the same in the Railway Budget.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 200 crore, of which the state government has to bear Rs 50 crore.
Sources said tenders would be called for the project soon.
People of Kakinada and Yanam have been demanding for the rail line for the last 60 years.
In 1997, during the NDA regime, the project was sanctioned in the Budget due to continuous efforts by the then Kakinada MP and actor U.V. Krishnam Raju. However, later, only meagre funds were allocated for the project.
Meanwhile, Kakinada and East Godavari Railway Passengers Association president Y.D. Ramarao requested East Godavari district collector H. Arunkumar to allocate land for the project to which the latter said he would if the railways send proposals for it.
The Railways should send proposals for acquisition of the lands to the revenue department immediately as the current financial year is about to end in five months.
Meanwhile, Kakinada MP and Railway Standing Committee member Thota Venkata Narasimham said he met Union railways minister Suresh Prabhu and discussed the project. He said that Mr Prabhu promised to call for tenders for the Kakinada-Pithapuram main railway line.
The MP said he also urged Mr Prabhu to sanction the remaining funds for the project in the next Budget and expressed hope that it would be completed by 2019.
Pithapuram Main Railway Sdhana Samiti secretary Dvvuri Subrahmanyam said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was keen on developing new railway projects in AP including the Kakinada-Pithapuram main railway line.
