Now, SCoR awaits GM to spur new zone development

Visakhapatnam: The Union government which gave its nod to establish South Coast Railway (SCoR) including Waltair division in its purview needs to appoint a General Manager for the new zone. The appointment will help accelerate works related to the new railway zone which got approved by the Centre after the formation of the NDA government in Andhra Pradesh.

Even though the new railway zone was announced in 2021 as part of the AP Reorganisation Act, not a single step was taken towards this direction in the past five years. Following the formation of the NDA government in the state, the much awaited railway new zone has got back on track.

With consistent efforts made by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister K Pawan Kalyan, Union Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu, Visakhapatnam MP M Sribharat and IT Minister Nara Lokesh, the move to set up the new railway zone took wings. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the SCoR during his visit to Visakhapatnam last month. Another major decision that followed was continuing Waltair division with a new name as Visakhapatnam division. If the new railway zone has to take shape in a fast-track mode, the exercise of appointing the General Manager for SCoR has to be completed at the earliest.

There is a larger scope for the SCoR to incur technical losses if the GM is not recruited with immediate effect for the new railway zone that covers more than 95 percent of Andhra Pradesh.

On one hand, the GM in East Coast Railway and another GM in the South Central Railway are focusing on ensuring the benefits are derived for the respective zones, while there is no such care being taken for the new SCoR due to lack of GM on the other. Stressing that operation should commence for the new railway zone with immediate effect by utilising available buildings, former general secretary for East Coast Railway Shramik Union Chalasani Gandhi opines, “Otherwise, the SCoR would face a similar situation as India when it was freed by the British Raj. In two years’ time, the administration building for the new railway zone will be completed. Instead of waiting till then, public representatives should mount pressure on the Centre to commence the operation by utilising the existing buildings and appointing the GM.” If this becomes a reality, it will ensure realisation of the decade-long dream of the North Andhra people.