Title - Paltry allocations to hinder Railway development projects

The budgetary allocations for the various infrastructure development projects in the state have been cut down by more than half, when compared to that in the previous Railway budget.While the state received Rs 200 crore to carry out various projects in the 2012-2013 fiscal, only Rs 70 crore has been allocated for the state this year.Dani Thomas, Chief Administrative Officer, Railways (Kerala), said that the paltry fund allocated has put a huge constraint on all construction works, including the crucial rail doubling works along Kayamkulam-Ernakulam and Alappuzha-Ernakulam routes and the electrification work between Shoranur-Mangalore. “Last year, we received Rs 200 crore for the  construction works. However, receiving  approvals from the Geology Department and the  district administration, and the paucity of red earth proved to be bottlenecks.A sizeable chunk of the fund was spent on this regard. However, the lack of funds would pose a problem this year and the implementation of the sanctioned projects would be a difficult task,” Thomas added.  The rail doubling works in Ernakulam, Alappuzha and Kottayam sectors are of utmost importance for the state. The Ernakulam-Alappuzha stretch is the most saturated in the state, Thomas said. Owing to red tapism, the state lost valuable time in the implementation of the line doubling works.

Though the project was initially estimated at Rs 4 crore per km, the delay has resulted in the escalation of costs to Rs 12 crore per km.

This has resulted in ballooning of the total cost from Rs 350 crore to around Rs 900 crore.

It is extremely disappointing that the Railway budget mentioned unimportant works, such as the survey for a third line between Shoranur and Mangalore, sources in the Railway said. The project is unnecessary at the moment, and would become a reality only in ten years’ time, said Thomas.  “A third line along the stretch is unnecessary. It is a disappointing proposal,”  he added. The Confederation of All-India Rail Users’ Association has welcomed the decision to conduct a survey on the Shoranur-Mangalore third line stretch.