Kerala urges Railways not to abandon Sabari rail project
V. Abdurahiman hails the Union Ministry’s move to consider the new rail project from Chengannur to Pampa, but adds that the Angamaly-Erumeli Sabari line has a slew of advantages over the newly proposed Chengannur-Pampa line.
Even as uncertainty continues to prevail over the future of the more than two-decade-old Angamaly-Erumeli Sabari Railway project, the Kerala government has requested the Union Ministry of Railways to consider the project as a major connectivity line to the popular hill shrine of Sabarimala instead of the newly proposed Chengannur-Pampa corridor.
Hailing the move by the Ministry to consider the new rail project from Chengannur to Pampa as an alternative to the Angamaly-Sabari project, V. Abdurahiman, Minister in-charge of Railways in the State, said the sanctioning of the new line should not be at the expense of Angamaly-Erumeli Sabari, sacrificing an already approved project for which an amount of approximately ₹250 crore has already been spent by the Railways.
Further, the lands on the alignment have already been earmarked for acquisition for the line, and the people on the alignment have been staring at an uncertain future since the sanctioning of the project in the 1997–98 period. In addition, an amount of ₹100 crore has been sanctioned in the current year’s Budget for the project, said the State in a letter addressed to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Comparing both projects, the State has made it clear that the Angamaly-Erumeli Sabari line has a slew of advantages over the newly proposed Chengannur-Pampa line.
The newly proposed Chengannur-Pampa line will serve only as a feeder line for the Sabarimala pilgrims coming and alighting at Chengannur. The distance to Pampa will be shorter along the Angamaly-Erumeli route for pilgrims coming from the northern side of Kerala. On the other hand, the distance on the Chengannur-Pampa line will be shorter only for people coming from the southern side. Since more than 80% of the Sabarimala pilgrims come from the northern side by train from the neighbouring States, the Angamaly-Erumeli Sabari line would be the shortest route by 56 km.
Further, the Sabarimala pilgrimage season lasts only for 114 days in a year, and the newly proposed line from Chengannur to Pampa will serve only pilgrims for a shorter duration since there are no major towns of commercial and social importance on the alignment, whereas the already sanctioned Angamaly-Sabari rail project will serve as the third rail corridor for central Kerala considering the survey projects of railways, which has already sanctioned surveys for Erumeli to Punalur line, and Punalur to Thiruvananthapuranm line.
If these two rail projects are also taken up, the Angamaly-Erumeli Sabari line will become practically the third corridor for the entire State of Kerala. Further, this will provide connectivity to the upcoming Vizhinjam International Seaport, which will open corridors for international freight movements, according to the letter sent by the State. Against this backdrop, the Railways should de-freeze the Angamaly-Erumeli Sabari project and issue the necessary instructions to proceed with the project.
However, the letter was silent on the reassurance the Railways sought in sharing the project’s cost. According to sources close to the government, the State government has already given assurance expressing its willingness to shoulder 50% of the project cost in March 2023. There has been only an increase of about ₹75 crore in the revised estimate, which is not the project cost, but the registration tax which has seen a rise in the last Budget, said sources.
- Telegram
SEE ALL
PRINT