BENGALURU:  With survey work completed and people hoping for an announcement of the new railway line between Shivamogga-Sringeri-Mangaluru, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has urged the central government to take up the two lines as early as possible.

The 227 km-long rail line envisages direct connectivity between Malnad and Karavalli regions, benefiting areca nut, rubber and coffee farmers in transporting their produce, as well as pilgrims visiting various religious spots in the hilly terrain of the state. 

In a letter to Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, the CM has said survey work for the line in Malnad has been completed. “The Shivamogga-Sringeri route is an important line, as a large number of pilgrims visit Sringeri to visit the revered Sringeri Mutt. In this regard, survey work had been sanctioned during 2017-18, and the same has been taken up during the current year.

Further, the survey work for Shivamogga-Mangaluru via Sringeri sanctioned in 2014-15 for a length of 227 km has been completed, and the report has been submitted to the Railway Board. I request you to take up these two railway lines early,” the letter read.

The proposed line runs through eco-sensitive Western Ghats and touches important centres like Tirthahalli-Koppa-Sringeri. In 2014, the then railway minister D V Sadananda Gowda had sanctioned the survey for this new railway route. 

As per the project proposal, major and minor forest areas, including grasslands, sholas and rainforests will have to make way for the new line. In protected areas, with elephant corridors crisscrossing the line, the issue of their movement will be a major problem, which will need proper mitigation measures. 

With the Chikkamagaluru-Sakleshpur rail project expected to be completed in the next two years, people are already demanding an extension of this line to Subramanya. 

GS Sitaram, a geologist who visits the pilgrimage centre at Sringeri, says, “It will benefit devotees who come from Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, as many of them make it a point to visit all the four Shankar mutts.”