Kerala Adds Staff, Land Acquisition Units to Unblock Rail Doubling Works

Kerala has moved to accelerate land acquisition for railway projects in Alappuzha and Palakkad districts by creating additional posts and new acquisition offices, a step aimed at reviving doubling works that have been held up along the Kayamkulam–Ernakulam coastal route. A government order provides for the new offices and posts to operate for one year from the date of issue.

Several doubling projects have already been sanctioned for the state's coastal belt. These include the 8-km Ernakulam–Kumbalam doubling at ₹828 crore, the 16-km Kumbalam–Thuravur patch doubling at ₹1,171 crore, the 12-km Alappuzha–Ambalappuzha doubling at ₹313 crore, the 11-km Mararikulam–Alappuzha doubling at ₹221 crore and the 21-km Thuravur–Mararikulam doubling at ₹434 crore. In Palakkad, the 1.80-km Palakkad Town–Parali bypass line, estimated at ₹163.57 crore, has also been sanctioned. The Ernakulam–Kumbalam and Kumbalam–Thuravur works have been delayed by land acquisition problems.

The new acquisition machinery is expected to lend fresh momentum to these projects. Kerala still needs 618 hectares for various sanctioned railway projects, including the long-pending Angamaly–Sabari new rail line, the Tirunnavaya–Guruvayur new rail line and the Thiruvananthapuram–Kanyakumari doubling project. Only 78 hectares, or 13%, has been acquired so far, leaving 540 hectares, or 87%, still to be secured. The Railways have deposited ₹1,976 crore with the state government for land acquisition.

The Railways have additionally sanctioned 145 rail overbridges and road underbridges in Kerala at an estimated cost of ₹4,786 crore, comprising 136 ROBs, one pedestrian subway and eight RUBs. Work on 52 of these structures has been delayed for reasons attributed to the state government, including land acquisition delays in 34 cases, pending finalisation of alignments in 13 and the non-engagement of agencies in five.