KOCHI: The doubling of Thuravoor-Ernakulam stretch had found place in the last two Railway budgets but the work is yet to begin.With only few months to go for the next Railway Budget, Vikasana Samithi’s have come out strongly against the lack of initiative from the government as well as the railways in doubling of the lines in the region.“At least Rs 10 crore has been sanctioned in the 2011-2012 budget by the railway board. If nothing is done to start the work by the end of this railway budget, the money will lapse. It will be a complete waste for the state,” said K Nair, Karithala Vikasana Samithi member. According to the railways, the work has been slowed down as the State government has not yet handed over the required land for the railways to begin their doubling work.“We have submitted a proposal to the District Collector regarding the area of land that needs to be sanctioned so that we can proceed with our work.Unless we receive the sanction, nothing can be done,” said Jayakumar railway engineer (construction).This, according to the Karithala Poura Samithi, is disappointing as the State government had promised that land acquisition for the project would be completed before 2012.“The government strived to acquire land in certain areas but the work at the Thuravoor-Ernakulam region is yet to gain momentum,” Nair added.Jayakumar admits that the line doubling at the stretch will not take place in the immediate future.“Land acquisition in the Thuravoor- Ernakulam stretch alone is quite difficult because most of the land are paddy and marshy areas owned by private parties.The delay in acquiring the land will result in delay in the work. District Collector Sheik Pareeth said, “The land acquisition has begun. We have sanctioned at least five hectares of area in the Kumbalam region and the sanction for the rest of the areas will be given soon.” Project in the pipelineMeanwhile, the doubling work of the one kilometer stretch between the Ernakulam Marshalling Yard and the Ernakulam North Railway Station, which is a part of the Ernakualam- Mullanthuruthy doubling project is still in the pipeline.“The materials for the railway track doubling was sanctioned years ago and were unloaded three years back.Nothing has been done till now,” said Viju Choolackal, a Vikasana Samithi member.Eight years back, when the land doubling took place, a lot of issues were created between the railways and the water authorities concerning the removal of a water pipe in the region. Now that land has been acquired to complete the work and no measures have been undertaken to start the work. According to railway engineer (construction) Jayakumar, it is due to a mistake in the scheme made by the engineering division in the early days. “The division has found a flaw in the plan. They have promised to give us the revised scheme. We are waiting for the sanction from them,” he said.
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