Allocate State share of funds for Sabari rail in Budget, demands action council

‘State should also issue a consent letter agreeing to shoulder 50% of the revised estimate of the project, as sought by the Southern Railway’

The State government should urgently issue a consent letter agreeing to shoulder 50% of the revised estimate of the Sabari rail project, the State Federation of Sabari Action Councils said here on Thursday. Further, in the upcoming State Budget, the government should allocate the State’s share for the Angamaly-Sabari rail project. The Southern Railway has recently asked the State to issue a letter agreeing to shoulder 50% of the revised cost.

Though the State had earmarked ₹2,000 crore from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) in the 2021 Budget, no funds have yet been sanctioned for land acquisition. Five years since the authorities conducted a hearing on the social impact study report in Kunnathunad taluk, the price fixed for the land has not been issued to property owners, the federation said. 

Also, there were no major impediments in disbursing the land price to the property owners in the Kothamangalam and Muvattupuzha taluks after holding a hearing on the social impact study report prepared for these areas. It has been around 20 years since the Revenue department issued a notification for land acquisition up to the Ramapuram railway station in Kottayam. The Central and State governments should consider the fact that the landowners were not able to sell their property or avail themselves of bank loans pledging the property, the federation said. 

The time-bound implementation of the Angamaly-Sabari rail project, which will ensure rail connectivity to the plywood-manufacturing and rice-processing industries; the pineapple growing belts in the Perumbavoor-Kalady region; Idukki district; and the tourist destinations in eastern Kerala, is essential for the development of the State. If the Angamaly-Sabari railway is extended from Erumely to Thiruvananthapuram-Balaramapuram via Ranni, Pathanamthitta, Konni, Pathanapuram, Punalur, Anchal, Kilimanoor, Venjaramoodu, Nedumangad, and Kattakkada, a parallel rail line with 25 new railway stations will be formed to the State capital, the federation said.