Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu on Friday, said that the demand for a Rail Zone in Visakhapatnam is under consideration, and he would personally take up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This came after ministers including Venkaiah Naidu and several TDP MPs met the Union Minister in New Delhi on Friday, to speed up pending works in Andhra Pradesh.
Last month, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley irked several citizens in Andhra, after he made no mention on the creation of a separate railway zone for Visakhapatnam in the Union Budget 2017-18.
Andhra Pradesh was allocated Rs 3,406 crore for railway projects, against the last two years’ average of Rs 2,195 crore.
The demand for a separate zone is a long standing one, often clubbed with protests for ‘Special Status’ to Andhra.
The two demands have been ongoing ever since the state was bifurcated in 2014.
Many along Andhra’s northern coast have reiterated the demand.
Protests took place in Visakhapatnam after the presentation of the Railway Budget, with CPM activists alleging that the BJP-led NDA Government had betrayed the people of north coastal Andhra.
Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has also assured his state several times in the recent past, that a railway zone would definitely be established at Visakhapatnam.
This week, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Sujana Chowdary reiterated that the state government was confident of getting their request approved.
Enanble Notification: NoTNM Marquee: No
