KOLLAM: The much-delayed gauge conversion works of the Punalur-Sengottai railway line received a boost after a generous allocation from the almost Rs one lakh crore kitty announced by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu for gauge conversion, electrification and doubling of lines in the Rail Budget.
The budget allocated Rs 85.69 crore for the project, which according to railway officials is sufficient for the year. The project that could reopen an alternate rail route between Kerala and Tamil Nadu needed just Rs 170 crore more to complete. It is going to be the fifth year since the train services between Punalur and Sengottai were withdrawn to facilitate the gauge conversion work, much to the disadvantage of people living on either side of the border, pilgrims visiting Sabarimala and traders who used to depend on the cheaper goods transport.
“The project has got a shot-in-the-arm and we can safely finish the project on time,” a senior railway official involved in the project told Express on condition of anonymity. Even if there is a smooth flow of fund it may take at least two years to complete the 49-km stretch, he said. More than the geological challenges of widening the track through the Western Ghats terrain it is the delayed and the piecemeal kind of funding that the project has run into.
Against the total estimated cost of Rs 300 crore the project received just Rs 35 crore in the railway budget for 2013-14. Many a times the project work has stopped and resumed only when the next tranche of fund comes. According to railway officials the latest tranche of Rs 65 crore would be spent on the project by next month.