KOZHIKODE: Malabar is pinning its hopes on two dream projects as the Union railway budget is being tabled on Wednesday as a part of the first-ever common budget. The demand for the materialisation of Thalassery-Mysore line and Nilambur- Nanjangode line dates back to decades with uproars now limited only to the eve of budget presentation. Thalassery-Mysore Rail Line Action Council, an organisation striving to make the project possible, believes that Centre's preference for public-private-partnership (PPP) project would give push to the project.
"Political parties should include this as a PPP project if a government project is not possible," said Kalavoor Johnson, general convener of the Council. The rail project was discussed in 1907 by the British to improve the trade in Thalassery, but it was kept on hold for various reasons, said the people campaigning for the project. Though the railway authorities dumped the project saying that the line, via Coorg, would be 298 km long and would cost Rs 3,779 crore, the action council had found in its survey that the rail distance would be only 145.5km and the environmental impact will be minimal.
Though the project was considered by various governments and then railway minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda had asked the Railway Board to conduct a study, nothing proved fruitful. Likewise, the Nilambur- Nanjangode railway line has been a point of discussion in rail circles for more than a century. The first survey conducted in 1882 during the British period and finally in 2013. It is to be recalled that the five-year-old night traffic ban on Kozhikode- Bangalore National Highway (NH 212) also increased the demand for the rail connectivity and the action council also spotted a narrow point of the wildlife reserve with just ten kilometer width over which the rails could be laid on flyovers without affecting the ecology.
Nilgiri-Wayanad national highway and railway action committee convener Adv TM Rasheed told DC that the ball is in the state government's court. "Though it has been decided to prepare detailed project report and formation of special purpose vehicle, nothing has been done", he rued. E. Sreedharan-led Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has been entrusted to prepare the DPR and Rs 8 crore has been set aside. But the amount has not been released till now, according to Mr Rasheed. The total project cost for the first phase connecting Nanjangod and Sulthan Bathery is only Rs 642 crores.
