With the general elections fast approaching, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government in the State and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre are trying to complete projects that were put on the back burner for long. The South Coast Railway (SCoR) Zone project, which was announced in 2019 and forgotten after, is one such project.
The Modi government’s announcement of the SCoR Zone project, with its headquarters in Visakhapatnam, before the 2019 general elections came as a huge relief for the people of north Andhra Pradesh. However, disappointment soon set in, as there seemed to be no progress on the project. For five years, the Railway Board kept saying that the detailed project report was being examined and that no time frame could be fixed for operationalisation of the Zone.
The BJP has blamed the YSRCP government for the delay, but this explanation has failed to cut ice with rail users. Activists have suggested that the BJP government should look for alternatives to operationalise the Zone instead of trying to pass the buck to the State government. They believe that a General Manager can be appointed immediately, and that the office buildings and staff quarters constructed as part of the Phase-II expansion of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), which are not in use, can be used as the SCoR Zonal Headquarters.
