Land acquisition serious problem in Kerala, only 14 pc acquired for rail projects: Vaishnaw

New Delhi, Feb 6 (PTI) Land acquisition is a serious problem in Kerala, and only about 14 per cent of the land has been acquired for various projects, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in the Rajya Sabha, while urging the state government to support the early completion of railway projects.

Replying to supplementaries during question hour, the minister said the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has earmarked a total budget of Rs 3,795 crore for Kerala alone this year, which is ten times the allocation made by the previous Congress regime.

"The land acquisition is such a serious problem, and the kind of support is so less. Just about 14 per cent of the land has been acquired. How will we develop the projects and how will we develop the railway lines if the state does not support? At least, that kind of support is required from the state government," the minister asked.

He said a large number of projects have been taken up for increasing the capacity of Railways in Kerala.

"As we are aware, in this budget, there has been a record allocation for the state of Kerala for development of railways. The allocation is Rs 3,795 crore, which is ten times the allocation which used to be during the Congress time. The kind of projects taken up will totally change the way Railway capacity is there in Kerala," Vaishnaw said.

Overall, he said, the way the projects are being taken, the capacity of Kerala Railway lines will be practically doubled, and that will bring a huge change in the way people commute.

On the high-speed rail corridor, the minister said the previous Silver Line project that was proposed by the state government had a huge environmental impact.

"That project, I think, was not even feasible. But, if the state government wants, then we can reconsider that high-speed project," he said.

Asked again by John Brittas (CPI-M), Vaishnaw said, "The ball is in the court of the state government. Let the state government start the land acquisition." "I would also request the MPs that the state government should support the central government in getting the railway projects expedited," he said.

The Railway minister said that the time has come when we should be doing more passenger corridors at higher speed so that 140 crore people of our country get the benefit of that.

However, citing an example of the Angamali-Sabarimala railway line, the minister said, "We pursued the chief minister so many times, the state government so many times. Finally, because of our pursuation, the chief minister has started the land acquisition process, maybe only because of the upcoming elections." "I don't know what is the agreement between both sides - the big players in Kerala - the Congress and the left. I hope that the Angamali-Samarimala land acquisition continues beyond the election also," the minister added.

The BJP-NDA government, when it comes to power in Kerala, we will make sure that the project goes high, Vaishnaw asserted.

On the upgradation of railway projects, the minister said, by now we have completed about 170 stations out of 1,300 stations that we have taken up under the Amrit Bharat scheme. The progress is very fast, he said.

"I also want to share that, unlike in many other countries, where whenever a station is redeveloped, they stop all traffic. We cannot stop the traffic. So we are doing the work while the trains are operating. This is a major transformation taking place under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, and we must all support them," he said. PTI SKC HVA