Vizag youth requests Donald Trump to intervene in South Coast Railway issue

A Vizag-based youth took to Twitter requesting US President Donald Trump to take up the issue of the South Coastal Railway Zone with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pointing out how the announcement made by Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal in March 2019 has not taken shape yet, the Twitter user requested the US President Donald Trump- currently on his maiden trip to India, to intervene in the matter.

On March 8, 2019, the Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal announced that a new railway zone named ‘South Coast Railway’ (SCoR) would be established in Andhra Pradesh with Visakhapatnam as the headquarters – covering Guntakal, Guntur, and Vijayawada Divisions. The Minister claimed that the setting up of SCoR would be completed within 11 months, in record speed and the complete infrastructure of the new zone would be completed in 36 months. Since then, the budget that was allocated for the zone was Rs. 3 crore, inclusive of the new Rayagada division – under the East Coast Railway of Odisha.

It has been over eleven months since the announcement was made by the Minister. However, several citizens from Vizag have taken to social media saying that there has been no information on when the remaining fund would be released. While an OSD (Officer on Special Duty) has been appointed for the railway zone, the office currently employs 4-5 officials in this regard.