Title - Call to support rail corridor project

While emphasising the need to minimise the hardships to people when land is acquired for the proposed high speed railway corridor, the Malabar Chamber of Commerce pointed out that attempts being made by some groups to resist implementation of the project would seriously block the State’s development.P.G. Anoop Narayanan, chamber president, appealed to all those raising objections to the project to support it, taking into consideration the development requirement of the State and the benefits it would bring to the people. The proposed Kasaragod -Thiruvananthapuram high speed railway line would clear the ground for all-round development of the State and should, therefore be supported, he said here on Wednesday.Railway development of the kind proposed had become imperative since road development would not be able to solve the traffic congestion on road since road width was proposed to be restricted to 45 metres. Congested roads would be a major roadblock to State’s development in view of the pressure on road traffic. “The high speed railway corridor would be an effective solution. To blindly oppose it would be to block development and create false fears in public mind about the project,” he said.The chamber has also sent a representation to the Chief Minister to take action to ensure Central government funds were made available for the project.