Even as confusion prevails over the cost-sharing of the long pending ambitious Sabari railway line, Railways have decided to expedite the work in the Angamaly-Kalady-Perumbavoor reach of the proposed line up to Erumely aimed at putting the hill shrine of Sabarimala on the railway map.
Although Railways want the State to share 50% of the cost of the 116-km line on the basis of a government order, the cash-strapped State is insisting on 100% Central funding. With the zonal railway and the construction wing in Kochi putting pressure to include it on the priority list of Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd, the Transport Department has cancelled the order issued for cost-sharing and has put the ball in the court of Railways. Official sources said the zonal railway has been informed so that it could expedite the works.
The estimate of the rail line, sanctioned in 1997-98, had gone up from ₹550 crore to ₹1,234 crore in 2005 to ₹1,566 crore in 2011 and now stands at ₹2,815 crore as per the revised estimates. Till date, Railways have not been able to complete the first 7 km from Angamaly to Kalady. This is despite construction of the new Kalady station and laying of the track from Angamaly to Mattoor. Railway sources said the target of December 2017 has been fixed as deadline to complete the stretch up to Kalady.
Railways have decided to take up the work in the next 10 km up to Perumbavoor as ₹225 crore has been made available in the 2017-18 Union Budget for the Sabari rail line. Railways have given nod for the estimate till Perumbavoor and land acquisition has commenced.
As much as 470.77 hectares of land is needed for the railway line which passes through Ernakulam, Idukki, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts. Of the 350 acres to be acquired, 132 hectares are in Muvattupuzha, Kothamangalam and Kunnathunad taluks. But the land acquisition offices in Perumbavoor and Muvattupuzha that were closed down by the State following the dragging of the project are yet to be reopened.
The authorities are going ahead with the survey in Anthinadu in Kaloor grama panchayat in Kottayam district with police protection despite protests from a section of the local people.
The Deepthi Action Council agitating for 1,550 days is demanding change of the present alignment. The Karur, Thalappalam, Bharanganam grama panchayats have passed a resolution demanding change of the alignment as water supply will be affected, council chairman Tomy Thengompalli said.
