Kothagudem: A railway project proposed in 1999 is finally poised to become a reality after 25 years, as the Railway Ministry has recently issued a notification for land acquisition for a new railway line between Manugur and Ramagundam. The proposed 207.80 km long railway line connecting Manugur in Kothagudem district and Ramagundam in Peddapalli district has been taken up as a special railway project. It is worth noting that there is an existing railway line connecting both the stations via Kothagudem, Warangal and Kazipet which is being used for both coal transportation and passenger trains. The travel distance between Manugur and Ramagundam railway stations of the existing railway line is about 286 km. Railway officials said that the proposed new railway line will reduce the travel distance by 78.2 km and also reduce the travel time. Importantly, the new railway line described as a ‘coal corridor’ ensures railway connectivity to Mulugu and Jayashankar Bhupalpally districts in the erstwhile Warangal district. SCCL produces 67.1 million tonnes of coal annually (2022-23) through its 24 underground and 18 open mines in six districts of the state.
SCCL CMD N Balaram Naik had informed a few days ago that the company is going to start coal production in Naini coal block of Odisha soon, with a target of producing one million tonnes of coal per year. Similarly, coal production will be started this year at VK opencast mine in Kothagudem, Ramagundam coal mine in Ramagundam area, Rompedu opencast mine in Yellandu area, Goleti opencast mine in Bellampalli area. The new railway line can also reduce the cost of coal transportation. The new railway line between Manugur and Ramagundam can help in the development of tourist and religious places like Kaleshwaram, Ramappa, Medaram, Kota Gullu, Mandasa, Laknavaram and Bogatha Falls. It may be recalled that in 1999, the construction of a railway line from Raghavpur in Peddapalli Mandal of combined Karimnagar district to Manugur via Manthani, Bhupalapalli and Mulugu was started. But then it was shelved. The Centre reconsidered the project and approved it in 2013-14 with a distance of 200 km with an approved cost of Rs 1,112 crore and now the revised cost of the project is Rs 3600 crore. The Centre has also proposed a railway line connecting Kothagudem with Malkangiri in Odisha to connect interior tribal areas besides mining and industrial areas of Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
