CHENNAI: A day after Chief Minister M K Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the timely release of funds to expedite land acquisition for railway projects in Tamil Nadu, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday in his ‘X’ post said that there had been “no delay” in disbursing compensation.
However, he did not address the key issues raised by the CM. Stalin pointed out that funds had not been sanctioned for acquiring 931.52 hectares out of the total 2,500.61 hectares for which the state government had accorded administrative approval.
In contrast, the Railway minister stated that only 1,052 hectares (24%) out of 4,326 hectares had been handed over by the state government. While the minister did not comment about the pending funds for the figures mentioned by the CM, it is noteworthy that the remaining 76% of land in the figure mentioned by the minister included lands for which administrative approval is yet to be granted by Tamil Nadu.
Regarding the Madurai-Thoothukudi (via Aruppukottai) project of 144 km, the CM said that land acquisition had been completed for 51 km of Phase I between Melmarudhur and Aruppukottai. The minister, however, pointed out that 91% of land acquisition was still pending by taking the entire 144 km stretch into account.
It can be noted that, in practice, land acquisition and implementation are carried out in phases and not for entire sections at once. Similarly, Vaishnaw did not respond to the CM’s allegation that Rs 289.78 crore is yet to be released for acquiring 16.86 hectares for doubling the crucial Thiruvananthapuram-Kanniyakumari section.
The delay in this project has significantly affected train operations between southern Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The CM also stated that land acquisition had been completed for the Tindivanam-Nagari new line (179 km). In response, the minister referred to a different project Tindivanam-Gingee-Tiruvannamalai section (71.33 km) and said that 86% of land acquisition is pending, but did not update on the progress of Nagari-Tindivanam new line project for which 100% land acquisition was completed last year. The minister also listed various new projects that have received approval and for which detailed project reports have been prepared so far.