Kalpetta: A long march would be taken out from Sulthan Bathery to Kalpetta by the National Highway and Railway Action Council on April 16 and April 17 protesting against the government’s failure to take up the Nilambur-Nanjangud rail project. The 25-km long walk is part of a campaign against the state government which has been allegedly delaying the project to promote the Thalassery-Mysore railway line.
Apart from the action council office-bearers, the members of the public and workers of other political parties also would participate in the march. Action council convener T.M. Rasheed told DC that though the additional chief secretary of the department of forest and environment in Karnataka had sent a letter to the state government expressing willingness for the tunnel route through the forest patches, the state government had ignored it.
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) principal advisor E. Sreedharan had quit the project after the government failed to release Rs 2 crore for the preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) though the finance department had sanctioned the amount. The survey for the the Nilambur- Nanjangode railway line had started in 1882 and the discussions on it had been going on for over a century.
