Bullet train or no train!
Malkangiri is quite a big district of Odisha state. It houses one of the biggest dams – Balimela on the river Sellar (I hope the selling is correct as I could see everything written only in Odia language, which I can understand a little bit but cannot read), in Chitrakonda
area.
The sad part is that the district has no railway line and therefore obviously there is no railway station. Anyone
coming to Malkangiri has to travel at least 3-6 hour by road (depending which
route you are coming from). If you are coming from Hyderabad, the nearest railway station is Bhadrachalam Road (300 km south of
Malkangiri), which makes it at least a six-hour drive. If you are coming from Bhubaneshwar direction, the closest railway station is Jypore (about 110 km north
of Malkangiri), which makes it a road journey of minimum three-hours.
Since I was going to Malkangiri via Hyderabad, I had to travel 300 km by road.
The
travel underlined yet another paradox in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
the moment he was seated on the coveted chair, started talking about high-speed bullet
train. His declaration sounded more like a blabber, when I recently visited
Malkangiri for a training programme.
I
was surprised to find that there is no train connection to this district.
Why
is it so that all politicians – the moment they reach a high position – start
making such absurd announcements?
In
a country where even after six decades of independence, there are places which
have no railway links, such as Malkangiri or the whole area in North East, talking of bullet train sounds so rattling.
Take this sample Mr Prime Minister :
The
Indian train system comes to a halt during winters when there is fog. We have
not been able to evolve and use devices which can help trains carry on with
their regular schedule in thick fog.
Even
when there is no fog, Indian trains do not run on time, ever!
Our
air system too goes topsy-turvy in poor visibility. We have not been able to
install devices to enable landing of aircrafts in fog.
Notwithstanding,
we have sent the spaceship to Mars and are getting accolades from the world; and now we are talking of introducing a bullet train.
What surprises me is the fact that Modi
comes from a humble background, so why does he not think of first streamlining
the existing system and infrastructure before introducing the ‘world-class’
facilities?
First
make our trains run on time, irrespective whether there is fog or not.
First
make proper arrangements for flights to take off and land in fog.
First
introduce trains to places like Malkangiri!
It was heartening to hear Modi announcing rail connection to North East during his recent visit. However, let's see if this announcement converts into a concrete plan or remains restricted to yet another populist announcement!
