The Problems of Railway in Marathwada

The seven districts of Maharashtra bordering Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, namely Aurangabad, Nanded, Parbhani, Hingoli, Latur, Osmanabad, Jalna, Beed are collectively known as Marathwada. It was formerly under the Nizam rule and was separeted in 1960 at the time of formation of Maharashtra. The area is known for its economic backwardness and one reason ascribed for it is the lack of communication facilities. This absence of facilities include modern uitilities like internet and mobile communication as well as traditional ways of transportation. It is difficult for anyone to imagine how the area has been marred by the problems of railway.

To begin with, whatever rail network exists in Marathwada was laid by the then Nizam administration. According to district gazettes of Nanded, “Nanded and the adjoining districts of Aurangabad and Parbhani are very rich in raw materials-. Cotton, the important staple crop, is abundantly grown. Visualising the importance of these raw materials in the prospective development of the region, the erstwhile Hyderabad State undertook the laying down of Hyderabad-Manmad railway line, which later on came to be called as the Godavari Valley railway, which was again renamed as Kacheguda-Manmad railway, so as to enable the transportation of the abovementioned raw materials as well as passenger traffic which was the necessity of the day. The work of this line was completed and it was opened for traffic in 1899.” Not a single inch of track has been added to that set up. Broad gauge railway was a dream for most of the public in the area till as late as 1992. There are still some districts like Beed (except Parali) and Osmanabad which have no presence of rail road. The district gazette of Beed district published in 2006 says,

“Beed district, along with other districts of the Marathwada region, was not supplied with a well-knit system of communications till recently. The total rail length in the district at present measures only 48.28 km. (30 miles), the main railway station in the district being Parali-Vaijnath. The rail track running north-east joins it with Parbhani and that running southeast with Hyderabad. The Parali-Parbhani meter gauge line was opened for traffic in 1929. The Parali-Vikarabad broad gauge line opened in 1933 serves the district well by connecting it with Secunderabad and Hyderabad, which are important places. Parali-Vaijnath is the largest market town of the district and is connected with many trade centres in the outgoing areas. Beed, the headquarters of the district, lies off the railway route and thus depends on roadways for trade. The railway communication is restricted to a small portion in the east only. It thus depends for the most part on road transport for passenger and goods traffic.”

The people are demanding for railway facilities since 1950s. Recurring agitations and demand to the central government have failed to garner any advantage for the people of Marathwada. The result is that even though most of the workforce of industries in Pune and Mumbai come from these districts, the travel to these cities is next to a nightmare for the people. Passengers going to Pune from Nanded have to take a circular travel of more than 200 kms which take approximately 5 hrs.
One reason why this apathy is being shown may be that the Nanded railway division is attached with South Central Railway which has been dominated by Andhraites. On the other hands, the people from the region ask to attach the division with Central Railway as is the case all over the state. According to Sudhakar Doiphode, the senior journalist and editor of Prajavani, a Marathi daily from Nanded, “The region has been locked into two sides with the same apathy. The developed regions like Western Maharashtra look at Marathwada as backward. The leaders their give a cold shoulder to the problems of the region, meting out a step brotherly treatment. On the other hand, the SC railway is more concerned with the good performance in Andhra Pradesh. The officers who are mainly from AP are absolutely no concerned with the people here.”