The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Railways ask State to bear 50% of Sabari project cost

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 25, 2011
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Railways ask State to bear 50% of Sabari project cost

Staff Reporter

Consensus eludes alignment of the proposed rail line

Another meeting to be convened on July 14
Project cost goes up to Rs.1,210 crore

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Railways have asked the State to bear 50 per cent of the cost towards the ambitious 117-km Sabari rail project aimed at linking Sabarimala to the rail network of the country.

The demand was raised by Railways at a high-level meeting convened by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy here on Friday to discuss the alignment of the railway stretch commencing from Angamaly. Official sources said railway officials told the meeting that the cost of the proposed project had gone up from the initial estimate of Rs.550 crore to Rs.1,214 crore and that the State's funds were needed for taking the project.

In other States

The Railways had already written to the Secretary, Transport, to bear 50 per cent of the cost of the Angamaly-Erumeli Sabari line. Many States like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had come forward to assist the Railways in the development projects and Kerala should also follow suit. Karnataka had given land free of cost for the railway development projects, the meeting was told.

The Railway Board had not cleared the revised estimate of Rs.1,214 crore. Only after finalising the alignment of the proposed line, the Railways would be able to work out the cost of the project. On the demand for enhancing the compensation for those being displaced, the meeting was told that it could be taken up only after the board cleared the revised estimate.

Initially, the Railways were for laying the 130 km railway line from Angamaly to Azhutha.

The stretch falls under forest area and as many as 11 tunnels had to be created between Erumeli and Azhutha. Besides, there was no added advantage in taking the railway line to Azhutha. Railways have now drastically changed the alignment and decided to terminate the railway line at Erumeli. By this, the proposed Sabari railway line would be only of 117 km.

The meeting failed to reach a consensus on the alignment of the proposed railway line. The bone of contention was on the alignment in Kottayam district, sources said. It was decided to hold a meeting on July 14 in the State capital to sort out the alignment in Kottayam. The Railways would now forward the alignment to the District Collector, Kottayam, for discussions with the concerned.

Only seven hectares of the total 420 hectares of land needed for the project had been acquired and handed over to the Railways. The proposed line goes through Ernakulam, Idukki, and Kottayam districts. It covers 22 panchayats and four municipalities.

Besides the Chief Minister, Minister for Finance K.M. Mani, Minister for Revenue Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Minister for Water Resources P.J. Joseph, Minister for Power and in-charge of Railways Aryadan Muhammed, MPs K.P. Dhanapalan, Anto Antony, and P.T. Thomas, MLA's from the region and District Collectors of Ernakulam, Kottayam, and Idukki districts attended the meeting.

General Manager, Southern Railway, Deepak Krishnan, Chief Administrative Officer, Construction, Southern Railway, S. Vijayakumaran, Divisional Railway Manager, Thiruvananthapurm Division, Rajeev Dutt Sharma represented the Railways. It was also decided to hold a meeting of the railway officials and the Kollam Mayor on July 14 to sort out the issue of handing over of land for the railway bridge at Chinnakkada.

Ladies coach

Later, a meeting attended by the Chief Minister, Mr. Krishnan, and Director-General of Police Jacob Punnose decided to post 150 Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel to provide security to rail commuters. The shifting of ladies coach to the middle of the formation in passenger trains will be explored. The DGP assured posting of GRP in these coaches. Mr. Krishnan said additional Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel had been posted to improve security after the Vallathol Nagar incident. The DGP said a joint drive was being worked out with the RPF to eradicate unauthorised vendors and begging in trains and railway premises.

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

Kerala