The Southern Railway has written to the state transport department stating that the state government should bear the cost of setting up the land acquisition offices for the Angamaly-Erumeli Railway, for which land acquisition notification has been issued.
According to Jijo J Panachinanickal, executive member of the Sabari Railway Central Action Council, the state government had issued the land acquisition notification for the Sabari Railway project. "The land acquisition notification also stated that the Sabari Railway land acquisition would be done using half of the state government's share of the project, Rs 1900 crore. However, the Revenue Department had written to the railway board asking who would bear the costs of opening three special Tahsildar offices in Ernakulam, Idukki and Kottayam districts to conduct the land acquisition required for the project and the salaries of about 100 officials appointed in the land acquisition offices," he said.
Now, the Chief Engineer of the Construction Department of the Southern Railway has replied to the secretary of the Transport Department that the expenses of the special Tahsildar offices to be started for the Sabari Railway land acquisition should also be included in the state government's share. The Chief Engineer also informed that the expenses of the special Tahsildar offices can be included in the state share in the project cost as per the information provided by the state government to the railways every year.
As per the letter sent by the railway chief construction officer, the Railway Board has clearly mentioned that land acquisition has to be done by the Government of Kerala using their 50% share and hence all related expenses, such as Establishment Charges, Contingency Charges etc. has to be borne by the State of Kerala. "Government of Kerala may submit the details of yearly expenses incurred including Establishment Charge etc. so that the 50% share amount can be arrived at on completion of the project."
According to Jijo, as of now, a track of over 8 km, Kalady station and a one-kilometer Periyar bridge have been constructed for the Sabari Railway. "The central budget has allocated Rs 505 crore for the Angamaly Sabari Railway for the current financial year. The state government had issued an order allocating Rs. 1,900 crore for the project from KIIFB," he added.
The state government had issued a land acquisition notification 4 months ago after the central government lifted the freeze on the construction of the Sabari Railway project, but since the offices have not been started, the land acquisition has not yet started. The 70 km stretch from Angamaly to Ramapuram station in Kottayam district was paved 20 years ago for the project. The situation wherein the owners of the land that were earmarked for the project are unable to sell the land or take loans has not been resolved yet.
"The state government should take steps to quickly open land acquisition offices and appoint officials, and the railways should start electrification of the railway line up to Kalady and construction of bridges," said Babu Paul, MLA and office bearers of the state federation of action councils.
