Ressurrect and expand Bangalore-Mysore railways

Points

1. A railways proposal that involves electrification and doubling of the the existing rail link with provision for a 20-minute peak hour train services was estimated by the state government itself though a sanctioned study, at Rs.500 crores. There is also scope in this proposal to expand existing townships and run the train services at 10-min intervals.

2. The environmental impact report of the BMIC project has dismissed the railways expansion alternatives as unfeasible, even as this proposal lies with the state government.

3. BMIC involves a cost of Rs 4000 crores, impacting around 200,000 people, and substantial and unaccounted impacts to lakes, forests and wildlife habitats.

Question

If the railways alternative can handle passengers and freight traffic many times greater, at substantially lesser environmental, social and financial costs, why are the state and central governments are interested in clearing the expensive Bangalore-Mysore expressway?

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