In a major setback, Indian Railways has cancelled the tender to construct a new broad gauge railway line between Kyarkoppa and Mummigatti due to administrative reasons.
Direct railway line between Dharwad and Belagavi is a long pending demand from the people of North Karnataka. The current connectivity via Londa is a circuitous route.
The cancellation of tender to construct new line between Kyarkoppa and Mummigatti has baffled the citizens of Hubballi Dharwad and Belagavi. The tender document doesn’t specify the reason for the cancellation.
Tender was called for the construction of a new broad gauge railway line (Length 11.7km) between Kyarkoppa (Excluding) and Mummigatti (including) under EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) mode.
The tender also included the Communication network and Electrical works apart from the construction of the new line. The total cost of the project was ₹243.66 Crores.
Kyarkoppa to Mummigatti new line is part of the Dharwad Belagavi direct railway line project. The total length of the new line is 73.10km and in total 90km from Dharwad to Belagavi.
The project if realized will have 9 intermediate railway stations viz Kyarkoppa, Mummigatti, Tegur, Kittur, Hulikatti, MK Hubballi, Bagewadi, Kanavikarvinkoppa, and Desur.
Kyarkoppa on the outskirts of Dharwad city and Desur near Belagavi will be made as junctions. The total cost of the project is estimated to be ₹927.40 Crores.
Then, Minister of State for Railways Shri Suresh Angadi ordered a survey for the new railway line in between Dharwad and Belagavi when he took office in 2019.
The project got sanctioned in September 2020, also it is worth mentioning that then CM of Karnataka BS Yediyurappa had released ₹463 Crores for the new railway line.