Tamil Nadu - Nagapattinam   

Railway line laying work moving at snail’s pace

— Photo: M. Srinath

Sluggish: Workers engaged in laying the railway track at Velankanni in Nagapattinam district.

NAGAPATTINAM: The still-under-construction Nagapattinam-Velankanni railway line will see a decade today since the laying of its foundation stone on June 17, 1999.

A decade gone, a completed and white-washed building for the station stands as the only testimony to the project that is scheduled for completion this year. The station building was completed three years ago, but the tracks were still being laid at the Velankanni work site.

Official sources say that the works were under way for the 10-km railway line from Nagapattinam to Velankanni and two minor bridges remain to be constructed and earth works done.

“The church at Velakanni has already given Rs.1 crore and five acres at the government rate for the project. Railway officials who visit us tell us that the project will be completed in six months,” said a member of the church.

According to railway sources, the problem was with the funds, which was being given in a piece-meal manner and after every stage. Hence, work gets stalled for budgetary allocation.

“Moreover, people and the church in Velankanni should come together and exert pressure for the early completion of the project,” says Bashyam, legal advisor, Federation of Consumer Organisations of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.

“The unnecessary delay in the project is a case of lack of co-ordination between politicians and officials,” says N. R. Srinivass, a retired railway official.

The project that was inaugurated at an estimated cost of Rs.17 crores a decade ago has now increased to Rs. 48 crore. Sources said that the line is slated for completion tentatively in three months.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Railway line laying work moving at snail’s pace

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu