KOLLAM: The railway budget has given small relief to the Kollam passengers. It has allocated Rs 101 crore for the broadening of Kollam– Thirunelveli – Thrichendoor – Thenkasi – Virudhunagar route which includes the Punalur – Shenkotta line.
A Rs 329-crore joint venture project by the central and state governments for the electrification of Kollam– Punalur railway route has been sanctioned. The gauge broadening works along the 49-km stretch from Punalur to Shenkotta is still pending. Out of this, the works along the Punlaur– Edamon and Shenkotta – Bhagavathipuram stretches, both spanning 8 km each, have been completed. '85 crore had been allotted for it in the previous budget.
The construction of a subway at Perinad in Kollam has been announced besides overbridges at Kundara, Eravipuram, Kavalppura, and Paravoor in the district. But there is no mention on the additional fund allocation for a second terminal at Kollam railway station.
Mr N.K. Premachandran MP told DC, “the railway budget this time is directionless. The previous budget had directions to increase the efficiency, but the operating ratio has been increased from 88 to 92 this time. There is no direction for additional resource mobilisation and to rectify the severe financial crisis the railway is facing. The budget avoided fiscal matters, which was intentional to hide the inefficiency of the administration,” he said.
