RailEnquiry

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M.N. Prasad The Angamaly-Sabarimala railway project has no real justification whatsoever and should be given up for good as was done in the case of the Kottayam-Erumeli line six years ago, former chairman of the Railway Board M.N. Prasad has said.

The Railways have all along been of the view that the Sabari project is not remunerative and it has not taken off owing to resource constraints and the huge throw-forward liability of the ongoing projects.

The fate of the ambitious project that aims at putting Sabarimala on the railway map of the country is again in the news with the State government rejecting the request of the Railways to share 50 per cent of the cost.

“Another practical way out for the Railways will be to complete the first stage from Angamaly to Kalady and abandon the project,” Mr. Prasad told The Hindu .

High cost

Mr. Prasad said he was of the view that the new line through the hilly hinterland would entail high cost of construction, large-scale acquisition of land, and environmental degradation due to formation of high embankments and deep cuttings. Besides, new level-crossings in the road network would impede road traffic. Grave hazards to wildlife due to running of trains through forest areas were the threats he predicted.

The running of trains all the way up to Sabarimala was also a security concern as the movement of criminals cannot be checked, he said.

Mr. Prasad said what Sabarimala needed was not a year-by-year increase in the number of pilgrims, but a scientific approach to prevent overcrowding.

“Rather than putting pressure on the Railways to complete the new line and bring more and more train-loads of pilgrims in to Sabarimala, the State should think in terms of restricting the number of special trains from other States each season, even on the existing line, taking into account the space constraints at the temple complex and other infrastructural limitations,” he said.

The Railway Board had revised the estimate for the project from Rs.1,234 crore to Rs.1,566 crore.

The estimate of the 130-km railway line extending from Angamaly to Azhutha, which was sanctioned in 1997-98 and hit by several hurdles, including land acquisition and paltry allocation in successive railway budgets, was initially Rs.550.

Alignment changed

‘‘The Railways have drastically changed the alignment and have decided to terminate the service at Erumeli instead of Azhutha. With this, the Sabari railway project has come to 117 km.

“If and when the railway line is completed, it may serve the limited purpose of cheaper travel between stations on the route,” he said.

Conceived in 1999, the 44-km Kottayam-Erumeli line was abandoned in 2006 following severe resistance from the farmers who were to be displaced.