TAPURAM: With the Center not heeding the state government’s repeated requests to revive the Angamaly-Sabari rail project, the state government has re-allocated the project funds to other rail projects.
The Finance Department issued an order on December 27, allocating Rs 38.16 crore to the district collectors of Kannur, Kozhikode and Alappuzha for various other railway development projects. As per the order, Rs 75 lakh and Rs 95 lakh have been allocated to the district collectors of Kannur and Kozhikode, respectively, for the reconstruction of major bridges in the Shoranur-Mangaluru section. The remaining Rs 36.46 crore has been reallocated to Alappuzha for railway line doubling projects in the Ernakulam-Alappuzha section.
During his visit to New Delhi in October last year, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had met Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and raised issues related to the project with a request to approve the Silverline project.
The proposed Angamaly-Erumeli 111 km railway line was originally announced by the Railways in 1998. According to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the State and the Ministry of Railways on January 27, 2016, it is an important project to meet the travel needs of the growing number of pilgrims visiting Sabarimala temple from different parts of the country. To promote the overall development of the South-Eastern part of the State.
The estimated project cost is Rs 2,815 crore, for which the state agreed to bear 50% of the cost, although originally the state had insisted that it could not bear 50% of the project cost. The Chief Minister, in his meeting with the Union Railway Minister, had also proposed by whom the project could be implemented. Kerala Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, a joint venture company of the State Government and Railways, is executing the Silverline project.
“The state has been repeatedly requesting the Center to take up the Sabari rail project over the years. But the Center has now put the project on hold saying it does not have the funds. Until the Center frees it, the allotment will be done. There is no point funding for land acquisition for the project, that is why the money is being used for other works,” top government sources said.
Railways asked the state to expedite land acquisition for doubling of railway lines in the state and complete it by March 31 next year, as the Railway Board had fixed March 31, 2024 as the date for completion of the doubling process.
The Finance Department issued an order on December 27, allocating Rs 38.16 crore to the district collectors of Kannur, Kozhikode and Alappuzha for various other railway development projects. As per the order, Rs 75 lakh and Rs 95 lakh have been allocated to the district collectors of Kannur and Kozhikode, respectively, for the reconstruction of major bridges in the Shoranur-Mangaluru section. The remaining Rs 36.46 crore has been reallocated to Alappuzha for railway line doubling projects in the Ernakulam-Alappuzha section.
During his visit to New Delhi in October last year, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had met Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and raised issues related to the project with a request to approve the Silverline project.
The proposed Angamaly-Erumeli 111 km railway line was originally announced by the Railways in 1998. According to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the State and the Ministry of Railways on January 27, 2016, it is an important project to meet the travel needs of the growing number of pilgrims visiting Sabarimala temple from different parts of the country. To promote the overall development of the South-Eastern part of the State.
The estimated project cost is Rs 2,815 crore, for which the state agreed to bear 50% of the cost, although originally the state had insisted that it could not bear 50% of the project cost. The Chief Minister, in his meeting with the Union Railway Minister, had also proposed by whom the project could be implemented. Kerala Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, a joint venture company of the State Government and Railways, is executing the Silverline project.
“The state has been repeatedly requesting the Center to take up the Sabari rail project over the years. But the Center has now put the project on hold saying it does not have the funds. Until the Center frees it, the allotment will be done. There is no point funding for land acquisition for the project, that is why the money is being used for other works,” top government sources said.
Railways asked the state to expedite land acquisition for doubling of railway lines in the state and complete it by March 31 next year, as the Railway Board had fixed March 31, 2024 as the date for completion of the doubling process.
,