Title - Prospects brighten for railway project

MPs meet Union Minister on Nanjangud-Nilambur railway project

Union Railway Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge has assured a team of MPs that his Ministry will seriously consider realising the proposed Nanjangud-Nilambur railway that connects three States in South India.

M.I. Shanavas, MP, said in a release here on Wednesday that the team stressed the need for a railway line that connected eight districts of Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu for the development of backward districts in the region. The team comprised R. Dhruva Narayan, A. Raja, and M.I. Shanavas, MPs from the Chamaraj Nagar constituency in Karnataka, Nilgiri in Tamil Nadu, and Wayanad respectively.

They also submitted a memorandum on the significance of constructing the railway line, Mr. Shanavas said. According to a revised survey of the Southern Railway, the proposed project could be commissioned at an estimated cost of Rs.4,266.85 crore.

First phase

The first phase of the project aimed at constructing a railway line connecting Sulthan Bathery and Nanjangud at a cost of Rs.641 crore. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had announced recently that that the government would give first priority to the proposed project, Mr. Shanavas said.

A joint meeting of various organisations including the Mysore Chamber of Commerce, Mysore Travel and Tourism Organisation, Wayanad-Nilgiri Railway Action Council, and the Kerala Samajam Mysore Unit held in Mysore on Tuesday decided to exert pressure on governments to realise the project, T.M. Rasheed, convener of the Wayanad-Nilgiri Railway Action Council, said.