Title - Land acquisition for rail gauge conversion to resume soon

COIMBATORE: After much dilly-dallying, the revenue department has resumed the process of acquiring about 42 hectares of land in a 10-km stretch between Podanur and Pollachi to complete remaining gauge conversion of the long-delayed Coimbatore-Dindigul-Madurai railway route.Talking to TOI, district collector M Karunagaran said a notification initiating the land acquisition process will soon appear in newspapers and the process of fixing the compensation is almost over."The department has almost finalized the process and we are awaiting a communication in this regard from the state government. All the decks have been cleared and acquisition will be conducted on a war-footing in another two months,'' he said.Southern Railway has already promised that it will take up the much-delayed work as soon as the state government hands over the land.The rail route was closed four years ago for gauge conversion and the process faced inordinate delay because of poor allocation of railway funds and the land acquisition hurdles."It is high time that the state government completes the land acquisition process without any delay. If it can complete the process before this year's railway budget which happen during February middle, there would be immediate release of funds and early completion of the widening works,'' said R Raveendran of Coimbatore Railway Struggle Committee.

Works in all other stretches of the route have already been completed and passenger trains are now being operated between Dindigul and Palani, he points out.

Lapses on the part of the previous DMK government also resulted in the long-delay in getting the land acquisition process to kick-start in Kinnathukadavu region.

Recently, Southern Railway came out with a clarification saying that the project got delayed as the state government could not complete the land acquisition process as per schedule and it was not because of paucity of funds as widely projected. Hence, the revenue department had started speeding up the process.

Once completed, the broad gauge line would reestablish Coimbatore's direct rail links with Palani, Madurai and Rameswaram.

"Once the land is handed over, it will take hardly six months for us to complete the widening task,'' said a senior officer of Southern Railway's construction wing.

According to MDMK district secretary V Easwaran, it is high time the state government and railways coordinated efforts to make the rail line a reality as early as possible. Palani remains without rail connectivity despite the large numbers of pilgrims from Coimbatore are visiting the temple town. Pollachi and Udumalpet are known for their agricultural produce and the lack of rail connectivity is affecting transportation. Pilgrims to Ervadi and Rameswaram are also finding it difficult to visit because of the lack of connecting trains.

The total cost, which was fixed initially at Rs 559 crore, is now revised to Rs 900 crore. Lack of proper fund allocations in the railway budget has affected the construction works.

As per schedule, the works were supposed to be completed by December last. According to district authorities, resolutions regarding land acquisition and compensation passed by six village panchayat wards in Kinathukadavu have already been approved by the state government and so there will not be any further delay.

As the work in the Pollachi-Palani stretch is almost over, the railway official said it would be inspected soon by the commissioner for railway safety and engine rolling. Railway sources have confirmed plans to operate passenger trains between Madurai and Pollachi through the newly developed stretch.