Rail track work gets under way in Nadikudi and Srikalahasti

Nellore: Land acquisition process for the 308 km-long Nadikudi and Srikalahasti railway line is being speeded up in SPSR Nellore district. The railway line is going to be a boon to the backward areas which have so far not been covered under the railway map of Guntur, Prakasam and SPSR Nellore districts.

The line would cut travel time from Hyderabad to Tirupati by up to four hours. 
As per the alignment of railways, as many as 2,237 acres of land has been identified for the 146 km-long railway line in Nellore district. Social Impact Assessment survey is also completed by a consulting firm, Envi-ronment Protection Training and Research Institute.

The survey is meant to study the impact of the project on displaced families before acquiring the land to devise relief measures as per new land acquisition rules. 

The land identified includes assigned, patta, forest and government land. The state government will have to bear the cost of land and provide the same free of cost to railways. It is mandatory for a state government to provide land free of cost for any Central government projects, officials said.

District Collector R. Muthyala Raju said that the railway line would cover 57 villages in 11 mandals from Varikuntapadu to Venkatagiri in Nellore district. He said they would start acquiring land soon after the release of funds. Permission has been got from forest department to procure 227 acres at Vinjamuru. 
T

he revenue department handed over 497 acres of government land to the railways.

Joint Collector A. MD. Imtiaz said the government has sanctioned '43 crore for procurement of land but they are waiting for release of funds to start acquisition. 

He added they would give compensation or alternative land to displaced families based on their requirement. The railway stations  between the nodal stations are Nekarikallu, Rompicherla, Vinukon-da, Gundlakamma, Darsi, Podili, Obulayapalli, Kanigiri, Pamuru,Rapur and Venkatagiri.