State, Centre agree to bring Sabari rail project on track
After a protracted delay, the State and the Centre have decided to implement the Sabari rail project, a project that was conceived with a view of bringing the Sabarimala temple on the country's rail map. The decision was taken at a meeting of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in New Delhi on Tuesday.
It was decided at the meeting that an expert committee will visit Kerala in July to bring the project back on track and to kick-start the land acquisition process, said V. Abdurahiman, State Minister in charge of Railways, who accompanied the Chief Minister along with K.V. Thomas, State's special representative in New Delhi.
But it is not clear how the issues related to cost-sharing of the project, which was a bone of contention between the State and the Centre, will be sorted out.
The Centre had earlier insisted that Kerala should shoulder 50% of the revised estimate of ₹3,810.69 crore. In turn, Kerala had requested that the liability incurred for financing the project through the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) should be fully exempted from the State's borrowing limit. The Centre then suggested a tripartite agreement to implement the project, involving the State government, Ministry of Railways, and the Reserve Bank of India.
As part of the agreement, the RBI will pay the State's share to the Ministry if Kerala fails to pay its share of the project cost on time and deduct the amount from the Central share of assistance to Kerala for various schemes. However, the State had been insisting on KIIFB financing for the project.
The 110-km Angamaly-Erumeli route was first announced in the Railway Budget 1997-98. Land acquisition had been completed in 8 km, while the work on the 7-km stretch between Angamaly and Kalady was completed earlier.
Recently, the Southern Railway had said only ₹20 crore could be diverted of the ₹142.70 crore sanctioned for the Sabari rail project in the last Budget for stalled projects, indicating the revival of the project.
The State has also sought approval for the SilverLine semi-high-speed rail project . Though the Union Minister did not give any assurance at the meeting, he said the alternative proposal submitted by technocrat E. Sreedharan could be considered.
The Centre is likely to convey its stance on the project to the State after a meeting with Mr. Sreedharan.
The State also reiterated its demand for a third and fourth line to decongest the existing network and speed up trains.
The meeting also brought the issue of poor-quality food on the Vande Bharat train in Kerala to the attention of the Union Minister.
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