Green hurdles before railway line project.

Union Minister of State for Railway Rajen Gohain has said the Kerala government had been 'advised to seek specific approval' from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to carry out a survey for the Thalassery-Mysuru railway line.

Responding to questions by P.K. Sreemathy and Mullappally Ramachandran in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, Mr. Gohain said the proposed project 'is having environmental issues as its alignment passes through reserve forest area in the States of Kerala and Karnataka.'

Mr. Ramachandran said the Minister had said earlier that Kerala had requested the Railway Ministry to move the MoEFCC for granting clearance to conduct a detailed survey in the forest area for preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the proposed new line.

The Chief Minister’s Office had pushed for the proposed Thalassery-Mysuru railway project in spite of the objections raised by the Department of Forests and Wildlife over serious ecological and social issues. The proposed line passes through the forest belts of Kannavam and Periya which are rich repositories of biological diversity and chunks of tropical evergreen forests.

The rail distance between Thalassery and Mysuru has been worked out to be 206.51 km, of which the actual construction length will be 190.22 km. The project passes through the 49-km stretch in the forests of Kerala region and through 35 km of ecological sensitive zones, including 11 km of the Nagerhole National Park in Karnataka.

Mr. Gohain said both Karnataka and Kerala had evinced interest in the project. However, no details for cost sharing pattern had been worked out.

However, he said that the proposed project was found unviable as per the feasibility report prepared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, entrusted by the Kerala government for preparation of the DPR of the proposed project.

The Minister said no final decision had been taken on the project. But Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited, a joint venture company formed by State government with Ministry of Railways, had approved to take up this line.

THE HINDU