Two years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Rameswaram-Dhanushkodi railway line, work is yet to commence on the 17.2-km stretch, as officials await the sanctioning of the revised cost estimate, which has more than tripled. Only the survey work for the project has been completed.
After engineers from IIT-Madras recommended an elevated embankment of about six-seven metres above road level, the original estimate of ₹208 crore was revised upwards to ₹700 crore, sources in the Southern Railway told The Hindu on Wednesday.
The Rameswaram-Dhanushkodi railway line and establishments were washed away along with a train in a devastating cyclone in 1964. The severe storm also brought Dhanushkodi town under water, leaving dozens of people dead. Since the night of December 24 that year, the services of the prestigious Boat Mail, also known as the Indo-Ceylon Express, which provided a boat link to Thalaimannar in Sri Lanka, also came to a halt.
“Experts from IIT-M’s Ocean Engineering Department conducted a field study on various aspects, including protective measures like embankment. They recommended an elevated Gabion embankment of about six-seven metres above road level to protect the railway line from flooding. When the cyclone struck in 1964, the tracks had an embankment of less than a metre from road level,” a top railway official said.
Since the railway line would be like an elevated corridor with boulder embankment, and other safety parameters were taken into consideration on the basis of detailed soil investigation, the cost of the project had more than tripled. In anticipation of the sanctioning of funds, railway engineers wrote to the Tamil Nadu government, requesting the acquisition of land for the much-awaited rail link in the southeastern tip of India, which would run in the erstwhile alignment along the existing road, the official said.
Top priority
The restoration of the railway link between Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi is listed among the top-priority projects monitored directly by the Prime Minister’s Office. In a note to the General Managers of the Zonal Railways on June 4, the Railway Board listed several key projects Mr. Modi had announced or laid the foundation for, and said monthly progress made in the projects should be updated for perusal by the Prime Minister’s Office.
“Proper attention shall be given while reporting the progress. It may be ensured that progress is not reported less in subsequent months as compared to earlier months. Considering the importance of these projects, it is imperative that they be accorded utmost priority and attention from the highest level to ensure completion as per the timelines submitted,” the note said.
The priority projects include a new bridge at the Pamban viaduct across the sea connecting Rameswaram, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project (508 km), the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link (272 km), and private participation for operation of passenger train services over 12 clusters across the country, among others.
