29-km survery of railway line done

Thiruvananthapuram, July 9: Southern Railway General Manager Thomas Varghese today said the final location survery for 29 km of the proposed 51 km-long Tanur-Guruvayur line had been completed.

However, the survery work for further area had to be stopped in view of the vehement protest from the local people, he said while inaugurating the newly-raised and renovated platform and concourse area at Changanaseri Railway station in Kottayam district.

Mr Thomas said the government should take the initiative to sort out the alignment issues raised by the public representatives and expedite land acquisition proceedings for the Rs 137.71 crore project.

Referring to the proposed 146-km Angamali-Sabarimala line, he said though Rs 3.55 crore had already been deposited towards land acquisition, further works could not be taken up as no land was handed over by the Kerala government so far. The final location survery for the 131-km line upto Azhutha was completed and land requisition for 470.86 hectare had already been given, he said.

Mr Verghese said work on the doubling of Mangalore-Shoranur was likely to be delayed due to contractual problems. However, the doubling between Ernakulam and Mulanthuruthi was likely to be completed before March 2007. Work on the Kayamkulam-Mavelikara-Chengannur sector was in progress.

The eagerly awaited electrification project between Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram would be commissioned by the middle of August.

For safety of the Railways, the Konkan Railway Corporation would instal an Anti-Collision Device (ACD) at a cost of Rs 71 crore between Chennai and Ernakulam sections. The ACD, a self-acting microprocessor-based data communication equipment, installed on locomotives, would be commissioned after September, he added.

UNI