KASARGOD: Railway Board’s order detaching Mangaluru region from Palakkad division has left the latter facing an existential crisis that could eventually force its merger with Thiruvananthapuram division. Given the circumstances, officials and rail users in Kasaragod district have called for urgent measures to develop railway infrastructure at Kumbla and Manjeshwar stations where the Railways has sufficient land at its disposal.
The Palakkad Railway Division, which came into existence on August 31, 1956, is one of the country’s oldest railway divisions started after Independence and Kerala’s first, predating the state of Kerala by three months. Losing Mangaluru means the division losing 90% of its freight revenue from Mangaluru Port, 50% of its annual revenue from Mangaluru terminals, and losing more than 100 jobs to South Western Railway.
Informed sources with the Southern Railway said the Railways had moved its approach to Rate of Returns and Priority to Freight for over a decade. With Palakkad reduced to one of the smallest and financially feeble divisions, there is the danger of the division dissolving over the course of time without adequate revenue, a source said.
The division has only one pit-line, at Palakkad Town, while its stabling lines in Shoranur and Kozhikode are saturated.
“In recent years, the division has developed Mangaluru Junction with pit-lines and stabling lines to operate more trains. It had also spent a lot of money on passenger amenities in Mangaluru region. The decision of the Railway Board has put the division in a serious crisis,” an official with the Palakkad division said.
On the flipside, the zonal railway and the division will now start looking at the chances of developing the infrastructure at the stations in Kasaragod, said a railway official who had earlier worked here.
“If the division does not develop terminal facilities at Kasaragod in future, it will eventually cease to exist and be merged with Thiruvananthapuram division,” the official said.
The rail users in Kasaragod district have pointed out that their decades-long demand of promoting the railway stations of Manjeshwar, the last station towards the northern end of Kerala, and Kumbla, where the Railways has more than 30 acres of land, now stand vindicated.
They also said that Palakkad division has no other choice because its valuable infrastructure at Mangaluru Central and Mangaluru Junction will cease to exist from October 1. “We stand vindicated of our demands. Had they developed at least a couple of stabling lines and a pit-line at Manjeshwar or Kumbla, they wouldn’t be facing this perilous situation,” said R Prasanth, president of the Kasaragod District Railway Passengers Association.
Palakkad division has been using the Manjeshwar station’s additional lines to stable rakes whenever there was a congestion at Mangaluru Central. “There is more than enough space for the Railways to develop Manjeshwar as a small terminal. There is even an abandoned BSNL quarters which could be repaired to accommodate railway staffers for the time being,” said K K Ibrahim, Manjeshwar Railway Passengers Association president.
‘Kumbla as satellite stn’
“Since Kasaragod does not have adequate space for a terminal, Kumbla could be developed as the satellite station of Kasaragod,” said Nizar Peruvad, convener of the Kasaragod District Railway Passengers Association.
MP, DISTRICT DEVPT COMMITTEE DEMAND WITHDRAWAL
The unilateral decision of the Railway Board to detach Mangaluru from Palakkad division, reassigning it to Mysuru division of the South Western Railway, has caught the elected representatives from northern Kerala off-guard. In a strong statement, Kozhikode MP M K Raghavan said the decision was unjust and would be a severe blow to the railway development of Malabar region.
With a major chunk of revenue from the Mangaluru region gone, Palakkad division will be reduced to divisions with lower financial revenues, he warned. Meanwhile, the Kasaragod District Development Committee, which convened on Saturday, unanimously demanded the withdrawal of the order.
Manjeshwar MLA A K M Ashraf moved a resolution which was supported by all MLAs from the district and district panchayat president Sabu Abraham
