E Sreedharan opens office in Ponnani for high-speed rail despite Kerala not being included in central budget

MALAPPURAM: Metroman E Sreedharan opened an office for the high-speed rail project in Ponnani. His wife Radha inaugurated the office by lighting the traditional lamp. Sreedharan informed that the work will officially start from today.

‘The office has been opened, although the staff has been called, everyone has not been arrived. The work will officially start from today. Everything will be done without causing any inconvenience to the locals. The staff will be told about the things to be completed quickly and about the Detailed Project Report (DPR). The field work is expected to start by April and completed by June 1. The agency for it will also be decided.

The stations needed have been decided. It will be fixed whether it should be elevated or underground. A station-to-station plan will be made. The locals should be brought to our side and their trust should be gained. The survey will be conducted manually. The yellow markers will not be placed for the time being. A decision will be taken in connection with the land acquisition. We need a width of 20 meters,’ clarified Sreedharan. He had stated the other day that meetings will start from February 15 to convey the details of the project to the people. The first meetings will be held in Malappuram.

Kerala had announced Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS, the high-speed rail project in the hope that it would be announced in the union budget, but the budget presented the other day was disappointing. Kerala was not included in the announcement of seven high speed rail corridors. The newly announced corridors are Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Varanasi, Varanasi-Siliguri.