JOIN US'Panathur-Kaniyur railway line feasibility survey soon'
The three feasibility surveys must be completed before March 2011, highly placed sources told Deccan Herald and added that the feasibility survey for the proposed Panathur-Kaniyur railway line will be held within a month.
The Southern Railways had conducted a preliminary survey for the proposed railway line between Kanhangad and Panathur (40 km) in Kasaragod district, as the survey work was included in the Railway budget for 2008-09.
If the proposed 40-km Kanhangad-Panathur railway line becomes a reality, it can be extended either to Edamangala or Kaniyur on the Mangalore-Hassan railway line. The distance between Panathur and Kaniyur is just 31 kms.
Reduces distance
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Jose Kochikunnel, a construction engineer who first proposed the idea of the railway line on Kanhangad-Panathur route said the proposed line will reduce the distance nearly by 160 kms.
The distance between Kasaragod-Mangalore-Hassan-Bangalore is 448 kms and the Kannur-Mangalore-Hassan-Bangalore is 534 kms. However, with the proposed line, Bangalore will be only 348 kms away from Kanhangad.
He said the proposed line can pass through Panathur-Kallapally-Alatty-Sullia-Ninthikal-Edamangala.
In fact, the line passes parallel to the road as prescribed by the railway rules. Moreover, the road between Panathur and Sullia is in pathetic condition and there are no major transportation system as the villagers including students normally depend on trip jeeps to reach the town.
A boon
The railway line will be a boon to them. As it is a backward region and a reserved constituency, the railway line will lead to the development works in the region.
The project would be beneficial to Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala. At the same time, it will also boost tourism in the region, as Ranipuram, Bekal fort, Talacauvery, Subrahmanya can be reached at the earliest.
The tourists and pilgrims from Bangalore can also visit Subrahmanya, Kollur, Talacauvery, Kottiyur, Anandashrama in Kanhangad, Guruvayur by reducing the distance of travel, he says.
Funds
In fact, the Kerala State government had agreed to shoulder the cost of the land acquisition for laying the track on the route between Kanhangad and Panathur.
A sum of Rs 200 crore would be required to lay the track between Kanhangad and Panathur, says Kochikunnel, he added.