Rail rudiment

Rail rudiment

Rail development in the Southern-most State of Kerala is abysmally insufficient and  incompatible with the all-round growth elsewhere in the country.

True, Kerala is land-scarce and people are reticent to part with land for development. Still, it is possible to take over land for doubling and other works. But the Union and State Governments should be honestly committed to complete the work.

Usually politicians do not want to pursue a project, if there is a modicum of opposition from the local people. Sabarimala rail line project had cost Parliament membership for those who impishly continued with plans to locate the rails along certain areas. All people in that area turned against them in the hustings. But that is not the case with development projects which offer a bonanza for the people at large.

The assertion of Minister of State for Railways R Velu that there cannot be running of more trains in the State without doubling work is practically all right.

But what are the steps taken by the Union and State Governments for materializing the doubling work? Rail doubling along Kottayam has been namesake. With the developments taking place at a fast pace at Kochi, it is imperative that doubling along Kottayam should be taken up on a war-footing. Doubling a few kilometres of the total stretch is far from sufficient.

The challenge before the authorities is to budget the total amount for completing the entire doubling work at one go. This should be executed within a year. By completing the doubling work, the rail traffic can be quadrupled. Doubling alone is the panacea for all the ills plaguing the State in the matter of rail traffic.

Electrification work also should be taken up simultaneously. It would have been far better if the authorities planned the electrification work also along with doubling work.

My point is that doubling work should be taken up in its entirety and not in piecemeal. This requires bold decision on the part of the authorities.

Think of the qualitative change in passenger and goods traffic along the whole stretch from all other directions towards Thiruvananthapuram and back. It is true that because of the passenger density, people along majority of the stations demand a stop for the long-distance train. If double lines are available, no harm would come about even if there are many stops.

Kerala is not like other States in the matter of dispersal of population. In other Southern States, one can see a conglomeration of dwelling places in another village after travelling ,say ,100 kms. With regard to dispersal of dwelling places being closely packed, the entire Kerala looks like one town.

It is, therefore, the bounden duty of the Union and State Governments to make plans taking this point into consideration. But in the Rail Bhavan in Delhi and headquarters of Southern Railway in Chennai, the response is lukewarm to the peculiarity of the geographic and demographic paradigms.

If there is a will, doubling of the entire stretch at one go can be executed without delay. The State government should provide all help to acquire the land, if there is need for it. But not much acquisition may be needed as railways have already more land at its disposal all along the lines.

The geometric proportion of the benefits accruing from doubling at one go would augur well for the all-round development of the State.