Bridging the gap

The dream of over 10 million people living along the country's western coast and that dream for which residents of western coast of India we...

The dream of over 10 million people living along the country8217;s western coast and that dream for which residents of western coast of India were trying for more than 100 years came true when Prime Miniter Atal Bihari Vajpayee dedicated Konkan Railway to the nation. A 100 year-old struggle for having our very own Konkan Railway.

Even Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak had demanded and tried to have this railway. In the year 1896-1897, he wrote various articles in his newspaper Kesari. His demand was for a train from Panvel to Rajapur 8211; heartland of Konkan.

The time has arrived to express our gratitude towards Rao Bahadur Sitaram Keshav alias Babasaheb Bole who vigorously campaigned for this vital rail link more than 70 years ago.

Very few know that he was advocating for the construction of Konkan Railway and enumerating the various benefits the people of Konkan region would enjoy if the railway was constructed. He wrote an article which was published in Marathi weekly Navyug on January 17, 1926.

On March 13, 1926 he took up the matter with the then legislative assembly of Bombay province.

On June 28, 1942, in a letter to a national daily, he referred to a project report made by a person called Mirkar for raising Konkan South West Railway Company KSWRC to construct the 750-mile railway line. That project was approved by the then railway board.

So one and all should remember Lokmanya B G Tilak, Rao Bahadur Sitaram Keshav alias Babasaheb Bole, Barrister Nath Pai and various others who from time to time tried to have this railway.

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At the same time each and every person should pay their heartfelt tributes to those 76 persons who laid down their lives while crossing various hurdles such as constructing 146 major and 1670 minor bridges, 92 tunnels with aggregate length of more than 84 kilometres of which nine tunnels are longer than two kilometres, the longest one being at Karbude village near Ratnagiri with a length of 6.5 km. One whole 425-metre long bride is being cast on the bank and then simply being pushed into position over the river.

The viaduct bridge across the Panvel Nadi with a height of 64 metres 210 feet is tallest viaduct in the Indian subcontinent.

The train could attain speed of 160 km per hour and at the same time be able to carry loads of upto 2,400 tonnes.

In the 50th anniversary of Indian independence this is the first major railway project to be successfully completed on a build-operate-transfer BOT basis, without any foreign borrowing.

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Konkan Railway will open up areas, hitherto unknown to tourists, like Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Karwar districts which have plenty of unexplored beaches and other tourist locations.

The Konkan Railway is the track to prosperity of India8217;s western coast. The ambitious Rs 3,500 crore project, a marvel of engineering and feat of unparalleled commitment, is dedicated to the nation. Now the Guard of Konkan Railway has given the signal. The western coast of India will turn with Konkan Railway at a speed of 160 km per hour and carry a load of upto 2,400 tonnes and overtake each and every part of India on the path of progress.