Kerala's north-south connectivity: Vaishnaw says 3 proposals underway; Brittas demands projects' status
New Delhi | As many as three proposals for developing long-pending rail connectivity from north to south Kerala are currently under consideration, from which the best and most cost-effective option for the state will be chosen, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in the Rajya Sabha on Friday.
Vaishnaw, while responding to CPI(M) member John Brittas on his demand for the status of a Detailed Project Report on the north-south rail connectivity, said that the first option is the state government's K-Rail project (Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod), which has been proposed on an embankment.
The second option, proposed by the Railway Ministry, involves seven routes - Shoranur-Mangaluru, Shoranur-Coimbatore, Shoranur-Ernakulam, Ernakulam-Kayamkulam via Kottayam, Kayamkulam-Thiruvananthapuram, and Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil — for which surveys are being conducted.
The third option, according to Vaishnaw, is the one suggested by Dr E Sreedharan, which involves an elevated 180-kmph railway line across the entire north–south stretch of Kerala.
Sreedharan is a former technocrat who headed the Delhi Metro project for a long time.
The railway minister maintained that whichever option is the best technically and economically will be taken forward.
According to Vaishnaw, Sreedharan has estimated the cost of the elevated line at around Rs 54,000 crore, and the ministry has examined the proposal in detail.
"We intend to call him very soon for discussions on this proposal. Normally, an elevated line costs about Rs 300 crore per km," the railway minister said.
Earlier, raising the issue, Brittas said the railway minister has mentioned seven ongoing surveys; however, one of them — the Shoranur to Ernakulam survey — was announced in the 2018–19 budget.
He said the Southern Railway Zone had informed him that the DPR for the Shoranur–Ernakulam project was ready and had been sent to the railway ministry a year ago, but it has been pending for approval since then.
Regarding Sreedharan's proposal, Brittas asked, "Is it for the Railways to prepare the DPR or to authorise Shri Sreedharan to prepare the DPR? And will the government consider this proposed project as a high-speed corridor, since Kerala has been left out of the high-speed corridor announced in the budget?"
Expressing dissatisfaction with the minister's reply, he said: "I had asked a specific question - who will prepare the DPR on the basis of Shri Sreedharan's proposal, and will it be considered a high-speed corridor since Kerala has been left out? He didn't answer that."
Brittas also accused Vaishnaw of showcasing old projects that were announced 12 or 15 years ago.
"He talked about the Sabari railway line. It was announced 28 years ago when Mr Deve Gowda was the Prime Minister," Brittas said.
"At that time, it was to be executed by the railways alone. After 28 years, they made the state government share the expenditure. Is it fair?" he questioned.
"Now he is accusing the state government of not cooperating. My question to him is whether it is prudent on his part to showcase all the old proposals announced in Railway Budgets starting from 1996 onwards and present a picture that he is offering abundance to Kerala," Brittas said.
Responding to Brittas' allegations, Vaishnaw said the project that had remained incomplete for 28 years would now be completed under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.