Why is Coastal Karnataka left out of Modi’s development map?

 For years, citizen bodies and elected representatives from the three coastal districts — Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Uttara Kannada — have been appealing to the Centre for better rail connectivity. The demand is neither extravagant nor new: a Vande Bharat Express from Bengaluru to Mangaluru or Karwar, and another from Mangaluru to Mumbai, to serve over 20 lakh coastal Karnataka residents who work or trade between these hubs. There are Vande Bharat express trains from Bengaluru to Belagavi and Mysore now but why Mangalauru is denied this facility, in spite of clearly felt need for the same.

Petitions have gone to the Railway Minister and even the Prime Minister himself. Yet, the response has been deafening silence. This indifference stings more because these three districts have consistently returned BJP MPs to Parliament for over six consecutive terms. The expectation of reciprocity — or at least some developmental dividend — remains unmet.

Instead of new projects, the region has watched its economic identity being dismantled. By a single stroke of a pen, three historic nationalised banks of Dakshina Kannada origin — Corporation Bank, Syndicate Bank, and Vijaya Bank — were erased through mergers with lesser-known North Indian banks. These institutions were more than just financial entities; they were symbols of local entrepreneurship and economic resilience.

What has the Modi government given in return? Practically nothing of note. The long-standing proposal for a civilian-cum-military airport at Karwar is still languishing in bureaucratic limbo. The coastal national highway network remains patchy and underdeveloped, despite its strategic and economic importance. There is no motorable road between Bengaluru and Mangaluru for over 3 decades and it is proving to be a drag on the state’s development, considering that Mangaluru has the only all weather port in the state, much required for import and export of goods from the state.

The question is hard to ignore: Is the Modi government turning a blind eye towards coastal Karnataka? Or worse, is it content to extract political loyalty without offering tangible development in return?

Coastal Karnataka has given the BJP unbroken political support for decades. But development is not meant to be a one-way street. If the region is to remain politically committed, it must first be economically connected.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Karnataka Bank’s Course Correction: From Bureaucratic Blunder To Restoring Trust With Homegrown Leadership

Image
Karnataka Bank, one of India’s oldest and most respected private sector banks, has always been more than just a financial institution—it has been a people’s bank in the truest sense. Founded over a century ago in the heart of Karnataka’s coastal belt, the bank earned its reputation not through flashy campaigns or overnight growth, but through quiet, consistent service to small account holders, agriculturists, local traders, and slowly, to corporates. It grew because it was trusted. And that trust was cultivated by the fact that the people managing the bank were those who grew within it—rooted in its culture, ethos, and mission. For decades, even after the appointment of senior executives formally became the RBI’s prerogative, there was unwritten mutual respect between the Reserve Bank and Karnataka Bank’s Board and shareholders. The RBI honoured the sentiment that only insiders—those who understood the pulse of the institution and its customers—should lead the bank. This symbiosis work...
Read more

When Prestige Is Gifted, Not Earned: The Padma Vibhushan Controversy Of Veerendra Heggade

Image
When a nation’s second-highest civilian honour— the Padma Vibhushan —is handed out without traceable deliberations or public accountability, the integrity of the entire award system comes under question. That is exactly what has happened in the case of     D. Veerendra Heggade , the Dharmasthala hereditary administrator whose 2015 Padma Vibhushan award now appears to be the product of    unrecorded decision-making . This is not mere speculation. The evidence stems from a detailed RTI application filed by  Ranjan Rao Yerdoor , a citizen activist from Guruvayur of Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka, who sought documents from the Union Home Ministry regarding the nomination, recommendation, and selection process that led to Heggade being chosen for Padma Vibhushan award. The response he received was staggering: the government  admitted that no minutes of the Padma Awards Committee meeting were maintained , and  no records of the nomination were available ...
Read more

Why I Will Never Fly Air India Again

Image
By a former passenger and complainant at the Consumer Court The recent  Air India tragedy near Ahmedabad , claiming nearly  300 lives , has shaken the nation’s conscience. For many, it’s a horrific reminder of how fragile air safety still is, even after decades of supposed progress. For me, it reopens an old wound — one that never healed — and forces me to ask again: has anything really changed at Air India? It is easy to grieve in silence, to watch headlines scroll across the screen, and then move on. But when you’ve lived through a traumatic experience with the same airline, the grief cuts deeper. The Ahmedabad crash wasn’t just an accident — it was a culmination of operational negligence, poor maintenance, and an organisational culture that seems to treat passenger safety as a secondary concern. Several years ago, I flew Air India from  Chicago to Mumbai  — a journey that turned into a 30-hour nightmare. The  air conditioning system failed  midair, and t...
Read more