Civic activist group Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) has initiated a postcard campaign, as part of Modalu Train Beku campaign, urging MPs in the city to attend a meeting between the Union Railways Minister and officials on September 18. Activists hope that officials take the opportunity to push for the suburban rail project.
Speaking about this, Tara Krishnaswamy, co-founder of CfB, said, “On September 18, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal is meeting MPs from Karnataka, so we want Bengaluru MPs to use the opportunity to prioritise suburban rail projects. Since they are the representatives of Bengaluru city in the Parliament, it is their responsibility to raise our demands at appropriate fora.”
The group is urging Bengalureans to send postcards to every MP from the city with a message urging them to go for the meeting and vouch for the citizens’ demands.
“In the postcard, we are also mentioning the url with the complete list of demands,” added Tara.
The citizens are sending postcards to all six Bengaluru MPs (both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) -- Ananth Kumar, DV Sadananda Gowda, DK Suresh, Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Rajeev Gowda. On Wednesday, the activists are also scheduled to meet Bengaluru Central MP PC Mohan over the suburban railway line.
Citizens have been pushing the state to consider the suburban rail project. On Friday, members of CfB met with Karnataka Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar and submitted a memorandum on basic demands, put together by them after their August 31 drive. A rail yatra was held between Yeshwantpur and Carmelaram, which saw hundreds of people participating, urging the political class to act on their demands.
Activists have been pushing for an efficient suburban railway network to ease the traffic in the city.
The Chuku Buku Beku campaign by the activists in December 2016, in which a similar rail yatra was held, saw immediate results in the subsequent Central and state budgets.
However, the formation of a Special Purpose Vehicle – similar to that of the Bangalore Metro Rail Company Limited (BMRCL) – required to streamline the entire process is still in the making.