Railway budget disappoints coastal people

February 26, 2011

Mangalore/Udupi, February 26: The fifth Railway budget presented by Union Minister for Railways Mamatha Banerjee has disappointed the coastal district.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Railway Yahthri Sangha (Puttur) Technical Advisor Anil Hegde said the long pending demand of the region to extend the train service to Karwar has been realised in the budget. However, the demand of the people to run Mangalore-Bangalore day train daily has not been realised even in this budget. Though Howrah-Mangalore train has been announced, the train will pass through Palghat and not via Londa. “If it was to ply via Londa, it would have benefitted the people of the region,” he said.

Meanwhile, the proposal to extend Mangalore-Bangalore train to Subramanya too did not get any recognition in the budget. “We had demanded to upgrade Subramanya road station as Subramanya terminal station, so that any train can be started from there. However, the proposal has not been included in the budget.”

KCCI President G G Mohandas Prabhu said that the proposal on starting a train service between Mangalore-Howrah has been realised. “However, we had asked the minister to run the train via North Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh-Orissa and Howrah. The sanctioned train will run via Palghat, which means Mangaloreans will have to travel 24 hours more to reach Howrah. We had also asked the Minister to start an additional night train to Bangalore, which has not been considered in the budget.”

Udupi Railway Yatri Sangha President R L Dias said that the people in coastal areas have been neglected in the railway budget except one demand of extending Bangalore-Mangalore (Yeshwanthapura-Arsikere) train to Karwar. Our interests have not been taken into consideration. Extension of Bangalore-Mangalore train is the outcome of our struggle for the last two years.

However, the request for the stoppage of Dehradun train, Amritsar train and Poona-Ernakulam Express train at Udupi has not been considered,” he rued.

Udupi MLA Raghupathy Bhat said the Central government should be applauded for considering the demand of extending Bangalore-Mangalore train to Karwar. “People of Udupi will have easy access to Bangalore. This also helps for the development of this part of the region. If the budget had failed to react to our demand, we would have started rail roko the very next day. It is a wonderful budget,” he added.

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Udupi school girl Shagun Verma Hegde to lead India U-15 volleyball team in China

coastaldigest.com news network

December 2,2025

Udupi, Dec 2: A wave of regional pride is sweeping through Udupi district as Shagun S Verma Hegde, a talented Class 9 student from Christ King English Medium High School, Karkala, has been named the captain of the Indian National Team for the Under-15 Girls’ Volleyball Championship.

Shagun holds the unique distinction of being the sole player from Karnataka selected to represent the country in the prestigious international tournament. The championship, organized by the School Games Federation, is scheduled to take place in Shangluo, China, from December 3 to 13, where Shagun will lead the national squad.

A Remarkable Journey to the Top

Shagun’s selection is a testament to her dedication and exceptional skill on the court. Her journey included several rigorous rounds of selection:

• She was the only player from Udupi district to qualify for the state-level selection camp.

• Out of eight players from Karnataka who advanced to the national selection camp in Pune, Maharashtra, Shagun was the only one to secure a place in the final national squad.

• The national camp saw participation from approximately 200 players, which was shortlisted to 23. Shagun not only made the final cut but was also ranked as the second-best player overall, solidifying her leadership role.

Shagun, who is the daughter of Sandesh Verma and Shruthiraj of Kallotte, Karkala, has trained under experienced coaches Santosh D’Souza, Jeevan D’Silva, Jairaj Poojary, and Ramesh. Her selection as the team captain has brought profound honour to her family, school, the Udupi district, and the entire state of Karnataka.

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