Why is Konaseema still waiting for its railway line, 26 years on? | Explained

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Members of the Konaseema Railway Sadhana Samithi at a conference on the Kotipalli-Narsapur railway line in Amalapuram on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Twenty-six years after its foundation stone was laid, the 57-km Kotipalli-Narsapur railway line in Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district is still unbuilt, and the campaign for it has been revived. At a round-table conference in Amalapuram on Tuesday (September 29, 2026), the Konaseema Railway Sadhana Samithi (KRSS) decided to launch a people’s movement, ‘Praja Galam’, and a call for a Konaseema bandh. The meeting was called in response to The Hindu’s Spotlight report of September 18, ‘25 years on, Konaseema Railway Line project yet to get on track’, copies of which were distributed among the participants.

The line was the idea of G.M.C. Balayogi, India’s first Dalit Lok Sabha Speaker, who was from Amalapuram. On November 16, 2000, the then Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee laid the foundation stone along with Mr. Balayogi for the line in Amalapuram town.

The project was planned in three phases: Kotipalli-Amalapuram (12.70 km), Amalapuram-Chinchinada (33.88 km) and Chinchinada-Narsapur (10 km), with major bridges across the Gouthami, Vynateya and Vasista, according to South Central Railway (SCR) officials. The SCR has completed over 98% of the substructure, including the pillars for the bridges.

Participants hold up copies of The Hindu’s Spotlight report on the railway project at the meeting in Amalapuram on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

According to Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, the sanctioned cost of the project is ₹2,120 crore on a cost-sharing basis, with the Andhra Pradesh government required to provide 25% of the total cost. Over the past 24 years, the State government has deposited only ₹52.69 crore, against a share of about ₹530 crore; the Ministry of Railways had spent ₹1,181.19 crore by March 2024.

K. Sridhar, Deputy Chief Engineer of the South Central Railway, said: “The State government has committed to handing over 238 hectares of land free of cost. We are waiting to proceed with the next phase of work once the State government hands over the land.”

Campaigners put the blame on the State. “The State government is to be blamed for the delay in execution of the railway project,” said B.N.S. Murthy, BJP Amalapuram Assembly Constituency in-charge and KRSS Steering Committee member. The Ministry of Railways had already released its share, and the State had failed to complete land acquisition and build the three bridges across the Godavari, he said.

Students at the Konaseema Railway Sadhana Samithi meeting in Amalapuram on Tuesday called for an online campaign for the railway line. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

KRSS Convenor E.R. Subramanyam said: “Nearly 150 bus services are being operated daily from various towns in the Konaseema region to major cities, Vijayawada and Hyderabad, with a steep hike in fare, which is three times more than the train fare. Absence of rail connectivity has hit the export of coconut and its export potential.”

Ambajipeta Coconut Copra Merchants Association President Srinu said the cost of transporting copra could be halved if the Kotipalli-Amalapuram section were commissioned. Copra merchants now take their produce to the Rajamahendravaram railway station, where it is loaded onto wagons for export.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema District Autorickshaw Union President Satyaraju said an estimated 10,000 autorickshaw operators would earn a livelihood if the line were commissioned. About 17,000 autorickshaws now operate in the district. “We will be prepared to directly participate in the movement for the railway project,” said Mr. Satyaraju.

Together, Amalapuram students Vasista Durga, Indraani and Bhavani called for an online campaign through social media, documenting the aspirations and struggles of the farmers for rail connectivity. “It has been a long wait for nearly 17 lakh people of the district for over a quarter century for the railway project. Despite being a major tourism spot in South India, the Konaseema region is failing to reap benefits from the tourism sector in the absence of rail connectivity,” they said.

The KRSS, led by Mr. E.R. Subramanyam and Kalvakuntla Tataji, passed four resolutions: an action plan for the people’s movement, “Praja Galam”, to be ready by October; a Konaseema bandh; a meeting with all political parties; and a meeting with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his deputy counterpart K. Pawan Kalyan.

Mr. Tataji, President, Amalapuram Chamber of Commerce, and KRSS Steering Committee member, said a delegation would soon meet Mr. Pawan Kalyan to remind him of his promise on the project. “Everybody needs to take to the roads and raise their voice against the inordinate delay in commissioning the project. Cutting across political parties, the KRSS will reach out to the youths, women and villages to join in the movement,” he said.

Y.D. Rama Rao, President, Cocanada Town Passengers Association, called for talks with Mr. Pawan Kalyan and Mr. Naidu before the future course of the movement was finalised. “It’s high time to seek due attention for the railway line project from the State government. The NDA partners in the State can convince the Centre to complete the railway project without any contribution from the State,” he said.

MLC Kudupudi Suryanarayana (East Godavari Local Authorities’ Constituency) called for stopping the vehicles of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Reliance and refusing to cooperate with their oil and gas exploration to put pressure on the State and Central governments. “Simultaneously, we must insist that our MLAs and MLCs from the Konaseema region speak on the current status of the project in the next Assembly and Council session. The project was the major poll promise of the NDA partners for our region. I will also speak on this issue in the Council scheduled to be held in October,” he said.

Mr. Murthy proposed boycotting the local body elections across the district. Yalla Subramanyam of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, who led the Konaseema Crop Holiday movement in 2011, said a people’s movement was the last resort because the State had chosen to remain silent on the project. Uppuganti Bhaskar, an activist who works with farmers, proposed a relay hunger strike at the district headquarters in Amalapuram.

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