Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s visit to Kerala on Sunday and his subsequent announcements brought cheers to the rail development sector in the State.
The Union Minister nodded in favour of two ambitious rail projects, Sabari rail and SilverLine semi-high speed rail, which the State had been demanding for a long time. In the case of the Sabari rail project, the Minister announced that the Centre was committed to implementing the project. This came at a time when the Railways had been exploring a new railway line from Chengannur to Pamba, billed as a shorter, but costly, route to the Sabarimala temple. The final location survey for the Chengannur-Pamba (75 km) line was recently sanctioned and work for the preparation of a detailed project report (DPR) was underway.
Frozen
The Angamali-Sabarimala via Erumely railway line project sanctioned in 1997-98 was frozen by the Union government following protests by local people against land acquisition and court cases filed against the project in its initial stage.
However, the scenario had changed later, and the State government had been demanding the implementation of the project, which had witnessed the construction of a 7 km rail track from Angamali to Kaladi. Now, the estimated cost of the project is pegged at ₹3,726.95 crore by the Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd. (KRDCL). The State has also submitted a letter of acceptance of the estimate and willingness to share 50% of the cost of the project on the lines of a pact signed by States such as Maharashtra.
It is a tripartite agreement involving the State government, the Ministry of Railways, and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which will ensure that the RBI will pay the share of Kerala to the Ministry of Railways if the State fails to pay its share of project cost on time and deduct the amount from the Central share of assistance to Kerala for various schemes. The State will soon submit a copy of the agreement along with a proposal to the Centre in this regard. The intervention by the State government and theMinister of State for Minority Affairs, Animal Husbandry, and Fishing George Kurian has revived the hopes of the project, according to office-bearers of Sabari Action Council.
The Union Minister has also promised that the SilverLine project can be considered if the apprehensions related to environmental and technical issues related to it are addressed. It is learnt that the Railway Board would soon send a letter to Kerala seeking some clarifications related to environmental and technical issues related to the project. Earlier, a similar letter was issued to Kerala by the Railways, and the KRDCL has submitted a detailed reply following a joint inspection of the railway land identified for the project.
Meanwhile, the Kerala K-Rail SilverLine Virudha Janakeeya Samiti has announced that it will intensify the protest against the project, and it will organise a protest meeting in Ernakulam on November 13.
Published - November 03, 2024 08:34 pm IST
