The Hindu : Kerala News : `Rs. 169 crores required for railway projects'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 05, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

`Rs. 169 crores required for railway projects'

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JUNE 4. The Transport Minister, R. Balakrishna Pillai, has demanded Rs 169 crores allocation for various railway projects in the State.

In a memorandum submitted to the Union Railway Minister, Laloo Prasad Yadav, Mr. Pillai said that meagre budgetary allocation had brought several railway projects to a virtual standstill. He said that gauge conversion work on the Kollam-Shenkottai section of the Kollam-Virudhunagar railway line was moving at a snail's pace as only Rs. 25 crores had been provided in the 2003-04 Railway Budget as against the revised estimate of Rs. 377 crores. He said that work on the 36-km-long Tannur (Kuttipuram)-Guruvayur line, sanctioned in 1995-96, the 120-km Angamali-Sabarimala line, and the 44 km-long Erumeli-Kottayam line had suffered a similar fate due to the meagre budgetary allocation of just Rs. 15 crores in the 2003-04 Railway Budget.

Mr. Pillai said that work on doubling of the Shoranur-Kuttipuram-Kozhikode line, the 221 km-long Kozhikode-Mangalore line and the 17.37-km Ernakulam-Mulanthuruthi line, the Cheppad-Kayamkulam, Mavelikkara-Kayamkulam and Mavelikkara-Chengannur, the Cheppad-Harippad and the Ernakulam junction-Ernakulam marshalling yard lines could not be completed due to lack of funds and sufficient allocation for paying compensation for land acquisition. The Rs. 63.51 crores allocated for the above projects in 2003-04 was inadequate and Rs. 169 crores was required for completing them.

The Railway Ministry had failed to consider the State Government's demand for a new line connecting Nanjangud in Karnataka and Nilambur in Kerala. Other demands such as installation of escalators at the Thiruvananthapuram Central Station, sanction of a new railway station at Nedumbaserry and substitution of dilapidated compartments with new ones in Kerala-bound trains were also not favourably considered. "Our demand for the formation of a railway zone exclusively for the State remains a dream," Mr. Pillai said.

The memorandum, which was submitted by Mr. Pillai when he met the Union Railway Minister recently, pointed out the persistent neglect of Kerala in the matter of railway development. He said that the Railway Budget for 2003-04 had evoked serious concern and dissatisfaction among the people. The disproportionate budgetary allocation for ongoing projects and new ones when compared to those made for other regions of the country had created a feeling among the people of Kerala that the State was being totally neglected, he said.

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