KOCHI: Twenty-five years have passed since the Sabari Rail project was sanctioned, in 1997. On March 21 this year, the Kerala Rail Development Corporation submitted a revised estimate of Rs 3,347.35 crore for the 111-km to the Railway Board. However, the Board is yet to take a decision on sanctioning the revised estimate.
According to Jijo P, a member of the action council for Sabari Rail, Idukki MP Dean Kuriakose had recently written to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw seeking his intervention in the matter. “In the letter, the MP has urged the minister to revoke the Railways’ freeze order on the project,” he said.
With the state government agreeing to shoulder 50% of the total cost, it would come as a boon for Kerala if the railway ministry approves the revised estimate for the broad gauge railway line as soon as possible. “The rail line will connect Sabarimala with many other pilgrim centres including Kalady, the shrine of St Alphonsa at Bharananganam, and Erumeli, the famous centre of religious fraternity,” Jijo said.
Dean Kuriakose has also highlighted how Sabari Rail will connect different commercial and industrial centres, like Angamaly, Kalady, Perumbavoor, Odakkali, Kothamangalam, Muvattupuzha, Vazhakkulam, Thodupuzha, Karinkunnam, Ramapuram, Bharananganam, Erattupetta, Kanjirappally, Erumely and Pala. “Idukki district, which currently doesn’t have rail connectivity, will get one through this broad gauge railway project,” Jijo pointed out.
He said the project will go a long way in boosting the tourism potential of the state and the development of Ernakulam, Idukki, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts. Already, a seven-kilometre stretch of the project has been constructed.
“The railway station at Kalady and the one-kilometre-long bridge across the Periyar have been completed, with an amount of Rs 240 crore already spent on the project,” he added. In his letter, the Idukki MP has also pointed out that the state government had allocated Rs 2,000 crore through the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board and the Kerala Rail managing director had requested the Railway Board to hand over the project to the state government entity.