Clarity on land acquisition for the much-delayed Angamaly-Sabari rail project is yet to emerge with the district administrations waiting for the proposals for land acquisition from Railways. The Southern Railway is yet to respond to letters sent by the Collectors of Ernakulam and Kottayam, almost a month ago, seeking the proposals which are a prerequisite to initiate land acquisition.
The proposal for land acquisition refers to a document comprising details such as the land’s purpose, location, required size, and the process to acquire it.
From Transport dept.
The Collectors wrote the letters following a communication from the State Transport department, instructing the district administrations to furnish the proposals in consultation with the Railways. The letter, undersigned by Vijayasree K.S., Additional Secretary, Transport department, is dated August 21.
Following this, the Ernakulam Collector, in a letter dated September 9, 2025, intimated the chief administrative officer (construction), Southern Railway, and the special tahsildar (land acquisition), Railways, Muvattupuzha. The Kottayam Collector also wrote a similar letter, it is learned.
‘Time-consuming process’
Sources in the Southern Railway said the land acquisition proposals can be shared only with the permission of the Railway Board under the Union Ministry of Railways. The process for obtaining the board’s permission was on, it is learnt. It is still not clear if Railways will go ahead with the earlier proposals, prepared before the project was frozen in 2019 due to indecision over cost-sharing and land acquisition, or make new ones. New proposals might be required owing to possible changes in the locations, and preparing them could be time-consuming, sources indicated.
Action council’s stance
Meanwhile, the Sabari Railway Central Action Council, a collective of people demanding the implementation of the project, are miffed with the bureaucratic hurdles which keep cropping up. “We understand that there is no need for the district administration to seek the proposal from Railways since the Kerala Rail Development Corporation (K-Rail), a joint venture company of the State government and Ministry of Railways, is implementing the project. Hence, we fear the act of sending the letter and waiting for the reply are aimed at delaying the project,” Jijo Panachinani, secretary of the council, said.
Published – October 03, 2025 08:44 pm IST
