TIRUNELVELI, OCT 3
T
irunelveli Lok Sabha Member of Parliament S Gnanathiraviam has urged the Railway Ministry to undertake resurvey and sanction of Karaikudi-Ramanathapuram-Tuticorin-Kanniyakumari east coast railway line in the ensuing budget on priority basis.
In his letter addressed to the Raliway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the MP has written that, “We would like to put forward the following for your kind attention and consideration, especially because, as reported in newspapers, the Government has started preparing the budget for 2023-24. It would be highly appreciated if the following request is also given priority in the upcoming budget. During the 2008-09 budget, the Railway Ministry had sanctioned the survey for construction of a new broad gauge (BG) line between Karaikudi and Kanniyakumari via Ramanathapuram, Tuticorin and Thiruchendur along the eastern coast. Subsequently, the survey was conducted and the report was submitted to the Railway Board along with the computation of the cost of the project. The reconnaissance engineering cum traffic survey for the new line project under the subject has been conducted for the length of 462.47 Km at the cost of Rs 1,965.763 Crores.”
- The Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC) project is being implemented and is expected to be in operation soon.
- It would also help ISRO’s new project at Kulasekarapattinam
- It would provide the shortest connectivity between the two most visited pilgrim centres in TN, namely Rameswaram and Kanyakumari.
The proposed new BG line from Karaikudi to Kanniyakumari is an important project and warrants immediate consideration. This project is strategically important as the proposed line would link the south east coast to the Indian Railways network and help this economically backward region to get developed. Further, the proposed line would support the acceleration of growth of the Tuticorin Port (VOC Port) by providing an additional line for its bulk freight movement. It would also fulfill the goal of the Indian Railways to render social and utilitarian service and help wipe out the backwardness of this area, added the letter.
The implementation of this project is also warranted as the proposed line would be passing through Koodankulam and Udankudi (near Thiruchendur), where the 2000 MW Atomic power plant and 1600 MW Thermal power plants are coming up, respectively. The Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC) project is being implemented and is expected to be in operation soon. The East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC) is India’s first coastal economic corridor covering 2,500 kms of India’s coastline, to be developed with the help of Asian Development Bank (ADB). ADB has approved a $484 million loan to improve transport connectivity and road maintenance in the Chennai–Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC) in Tamil Nadu, India. Moreover, it would also help ISRO’s new project at Kulasekarapattinam. I would like to bring to your attention that this region has seen and continues to see hectic economic activity post IR survey. Last but not the least, it would provide the shortest connectivity between the two most visited pilgrim centres in TN, namely Rameswaram and Kanyakumari.
“I would like to draw your attention towards the statement of Suresh Prabhu, Railway Minister in 2017 at Trichy saying that this project is under consideration and is most likely to be implemented. You may be aware that the southern districts are one of the economically and industrially backward districts of south Tamilnadu. Establishing the new line would help the region to attract more industrial units and create more employment opportunities to the local population, besides giving additional transportation facilities.
Having the Uppur Supercritical Thermal Power Project in Uppur itself is very important for the region as it will give a Railway line from Ramnad to Uppur. TANGEDCO had to remit the Codal Charges of Rs.1.5 Crore to Railways to execute the Railway line project for which the Final DPR was submitted on 31-10-2016 since then the same is pending with Indian Railways for want of remittance of Codal Charges by TANGEDCO to Railways. Since the tasks of detailed Final Location Survey, preparation of Engineering Scale Plan, updating DPR for Railway Siding for transportation of Coal from Ramnad to Project Site for 2×800 MW Uppur Thermal Power Project at Ramanathapuram District, Tamil Nadu are already accomplished, approval of Railways is now depending only on the deposition of Codal Charges for Final approval by Railways
The MP further added that “the viability of ECR railways project has increased significantly due to the launch of projects such as CKIC, ECEC, Vizhinjam port (expected to be operational within a year) in this sector. So I request railway authorities to conduct a resurvey (engineering cum traffic survey) and recalculate the rate of returns and submit it to the railway board for sanction and implementation. At this point in time it would be prudent of IR not to consider the ROR for this project and instead prioritize it based on socio-economic parameters.”
Last, but not the least, as you are already aware that some of the railway lines running along the North East and North West borders were developed due to defence strategic importance. GOI is already concerned about Chinese interest in Sri Lanka and sees it as a threat to our country. Hence, the east coast railway line would be of strategic importance to our country, the MP said.
