Suresh Prabhu coming, hopes soar on separate railway zone for Andhra Pradesh

Visakhapatnam: Speculations over a separate railway zone for Andhra Pradesh with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters are rife once again ahead of railway minister Suresh Prabhu's visit to Visakhapatnam. Mr Prabhu would be in Visakhapatnam on June 21 for the International Yoga Day celebrations of the state government.

With Mr Prabhu now representing Andhra Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha, Vizagites are upbeat over the visit and are expecting that he could announce the rail zone for the city.

A senior BJP leader of the city said that Mr Prabhu along with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu would participate in the Yoga Day celebrations, which the state government has planned to conduct on a grand scale.

“We cannot anticipate Mr Prabhu announcing a railway zone for Andhra Pradesh the same day. We are also waiting to see how things unfold on Yoga Day,” he said.

The Waltair division of ECoR has a huge chunk of land in Vizag city, and the railways will not have to acquire land for the rail zone. The division is also a good revenue earner, which works in favour of Vizag hosting the headquarters.
Passengers associations said that despite the metamorphosis of the Visakhapatnam region over the last two decades, railway facilities had not increased at par with the development and growth of the city. The separate railway zone has become a sentimental issue.

The Left parties, Congress, YSRC and other groups have staged hundreds of protests seeking a railway zone. YSRC district president Gudivada Amarnath had launched a fast-unto-death on April 14 before police broke it on April 17.