Kanjangad-Kaniyur rail route survey completed

Kozhikode: The traffic and engineering survey for the proposed Kanjangad-Kaniyur (90 km) has been completed last week. The proposed route, which is expected to bring North Kerala nearer to Bangalore and Mysore, now requires an assurance from the state government regarding the construction cost.

“According to the newly emerged agreement, Kerala and Karnataka governments have to bear half the cost of construction and the complete expenditure of the land acquisition,” said Jose Kochikunnel, a construction engineer who first mooted the idea of the railway line.

The survey work was carried out by the survey and construction section of the Southern Railway led by Deputy Chief Engineer Mr Mohammad Salih and according to sources, the team has a positive opinion on the feasibility of the project.

But railway sources are apprehensive over the materialization of the project in the immediate future.

“Though the successful survey has been completed it does not ind-icate things will turn into action. Unless concerted efforts are undertaken, the proposal will be on paper only,” said a top railway official in Palakkad.

The long pending K-anjangad-Kaniyur line has been conceived in two phases—Kanjangad Kaniyur (40 km) which passes through Kerala and the rest in Karnataka. The supporters of the line claim that if it materializes, then Bangalore will be only 348 kms away from Kanjangad or in other words, the duration to reach Bangalore will be six hours only.

Currently, the Kanjangad-Bangalore route either via Mangalore or Palakkad is more than 650 kms taking an exhausting 12 hours to reach.

The distance and time required to connect Mysore, Subrahmanya and Hassan to North Kerala will also be reduced. It will also give fillip to the tourism sector connecting Talacauvery, Subrahmanya, Bekal and Ranipura. “The report of the survey team is expected to be handed over to the railway board in November,” Mr Kochikunnel said.