THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala yesterday completed the aerial survey (lidar) of the 111 km Sabari railway line, which is expected to cost Rs 3,500 crore. The survey was completed for 41 km using a small aircraft as per the central directive, 70 km after the alignment was completed five years ago. Its data will be available in a month. The Kerala Rail Development Corporation (KRDCL) has said that the revised estimate will be submitted to the Centre within two months.

Kerala has expedited the process after Railway Minister Ashwani Vaishnav assured the Lok Sabha that a final decision would be taken if a revised estimate is received. Kerala had offered to bear half of the project cost and undertake the construction.

It is now time to correct the action of the Southern Railway which froze the Sabari Rail project in 2020. Kerala has waived the 30 percent of land price as an establishment charge for land acquisition that Railways need to pay. The cost of land acquisition is over Rs 900 crore. Twenty years ago, the sale of 900 plots of land for the project was frozen. They are unable to sell land or take mortgages. The state has demanded that the project be frozen and land acquisition started. Kerala has also demanded that the construction be handed over to a railway-state joint venture company.

So far

In 2016, 70 km of alignment was prepared through the survey

Its estimate was revised in 2020 and submitted to the Railways

20% increase in estimate when renewed

The survey of the remaining 41 km was completed yesterday

A total of 111 km of roads were valued at Rs 2815 crore in 2017

When the estimate is revised, it may go up to Rs 3,500 crore.

To reduce costs

Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) method can reduce the cost by 20%. The design and construction are the responsibility of the contractor.

Elevated paths will be reduced

Height, cutting and filling can be integrated in alignment

Bridges instead of earthworks at height

The method of the railway is to have several contractors every ten kilometers.

Substituting this for a single tender will reduce the cost

Angamaly-Erumeli (111 km)

Sabari rail was announced in 1997

Only 7 km (Angamaly-Kalady) has been constructed so far