On March 20, the controversial Hubballi-Ankola railway line project was cleared at the Karnataka State Wildlife Board (KSWB) meeting in Bengaluru. The proposed 164.44 km Hubballi-Ankola railway line passes through the Western Ghats.
This railway line was primarily planned to serve the freight traffic and to link the west coast to the Karnataka hinterland for socio-economic development of northern and Hyderabad-Karnataka region. The present mode of road transport is seasonal and is inaccessible for five months during monsoons. As per the project layout, the main reason for proposing a new broad-gauge line was for the transportation of iron and manganese ore from Bellary to Hospet region to the upcoming ports at Tadri (near Ankola) and Karwar on the western coast of Karnataka, and also to the existing ports of Vasco and Madgaon in Goa.
