Thiruvananthapuram: The government’s much hyped highspeed rail corridor project has been scrapped by the state planning board from the list of mega projects in the state. The state has already transferred Rs 17 crore to the DMRC for preparing thedetailed project report.
According to sources, the DMRC is yet to submit the detailed project report that was supposed to be submitted before December 31. The planning board took out the project from thelistof mega projects andsubsequently the matter found no mention in the state budget for this year.Thiswas replacedwith the sub-urban rail corridor project, which the government found would be more suitable and viablefor thestate.
In a recent stock taking, the high-speed rail corridor project that was estimated to cost Rs 1 lakh crore, has escalated to almost double that figure. “The new cost has been worked out at Rs 1.80 lakh crore that makes it almostunbearablefor thestate,” sourcessaid.
“Ithas notbeen scrappedofficially,butitis at a deadstage.The estimated project cost has almost doubled now, and the more the delay, the costlier the project wouldbecome,”sourcessaid.
It is also learnt, that chief minister Oommen Chandy himself had expressed unwillingnesstowardsthe projectin many of the meetings connected with the reviewof infrastructure projectsin thestate.
The state government had formed a public limited company- Kerala High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd - to implement the project. The government had also appointed former IAS officer TBalakrishnan asthe managing director of thecompany.
The 630-km high speed rail network was proposed with two parallel tracks in standard gauge system to connect Thiruvananthapuram with Mangalore. The new company was formed on the basis of a pre-feasibility report submitted by DMRC.
Thoughthewidthof theland required to be acquired for the railcorridor wascalculatedtobe 13 metres andthe plan wastouse a green-field route to keep the rehabilitation task to the minimum, considerable opposition had risen from various corners while trying to undertake the survey.
(K.P. Sasi Kiran, Times of India dt 16-2-2014)
(Malayala Manorama dt 17-2-2014)
According to sources, the DMRC is yet to submit the detailed project report that was supposed to be submitted before December 31. The planning board took out the project from thelistof mega projects andsubsequently the matter found no mention in the state budget for this year.Thiswas replacedwith the sub-urban rail corridor project, which the government found would be more suitable and viablefor thestate.
In a recent stock taking, the high-speed rail corridor project that was estimated to cost Rs 1 lakh crore, has escalated to almost double that figure. “The new cost has been worked out at Rs 1.80 lakh crore that makes it almostunbearablefor thestate,” sourcessaid.
“Ithas notbeen scrappedofficially,butitis at a deadstage.The estimated project cost has almost doubled now, and the more the delay, the costlier the project wouldbecome,”sourcessaid.
It is also learnt, that chief minister Oommen Chandy himself had expressed unwillingnesstowardsthe projectin many of the meetings connected with the reviewof infrastructure projectsin thestate.
The state government had formed a public limited company- Kerala High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd - to implement the project. The government had also appointed former IAS officer TBalakrishnan asthe managing director of thecompany.
The 630-km high speed rail network was proposed with two parallel tracks in standard gauge system to connect Thiruvananthapuram with Mangalore. The new company was formed on the basis of a pre-feasibility report submitted by DMRC.
Thoughthewidthof theland required to be acquired for the railcorridor wascalculatedtobe 13 metres andthe plan wastouse a green-field route to keep the rehabilitation task to the minimum, considerable opposition had risen from various corners while trying to undertake the survey.
(K.P. Sasi Kiran, Times of India dt 16-2-2014)
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