Govt. gives nod to acquire land to lay new broad gauge railway line between Mannargudi and Pattukottai
The Tamil Nadu government has accorded administrative sanction for the acquisition of land in connection with the construction of the long-pending new broad gauge railway
The Tamil Nadu government has accorded administrative sanction for the acquisition of land in connection with the construction of the long-pending new broad gauge railway line between Mannargudi and Pattukottai in Tiruchi Railway Division limits. The move gives a thrust to the 41-km railway line project, which has remained on paper for nearly 14 years after its announcement by the Railway Ministry in 2012. An order according sanction for the acquisition of private and government poromboke land was issued a few days ago based on the proposal of the District Collectors of Thanjavur and Tiruvarur and the recommendation of the Commissioner of Land Administrative Reforms. A copy of the government order has been forwarded to the Chief Engineer, Construction, Southern Railway. The government has sanctioned the creation of 13 posts of special staff each in Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts for the land acquisition work in Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts.
Wet, dry, manavari and government poromboke lands are to be acquired in the two districts. In Thanjavur district, 89.49 hectares of patta lands and 17.63 hectares of government poromboke lands in Nadiyammalpuram and 14 other villages in Pattukottai taluk are to be acquired. Officials appointed In Tiruvarur district, 87.53 hectares of patta lands and 8.92 hectares of government poromboke lands in Ramapuram and 14 other villages in Mannargudi taluk are to be acquired under the Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purposes Act. The District Revenue Officers of Thanjavur and Tiruvarur have been appointed as Land Acquisition Officers in their respective districts. “The Mannargudi-Pattukottai BG line project was announced in 2012-13 by the Railway Ministry during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance regime. It was brought as an extension of the Mayiladuthurai-Tiruvarur-Karaikudi and Thiruthuraipoondi-Agasthiyampalli gauge conversion projects.
Tenders were initially floated for the construction of a bridge across Bamini river in Tiruvarur district. The bridge work started with construction of a few pillars and subsequently stopped. The bridge work across Kannanaru and Nasuvani river never took off and the project remained only on paper due to delay in land acquisition,” said D. Manoharan, a former railway employee and an office-bearer of trade union based in Mannargudi. Cost escalation The estimated cost of the project was initially pegged at over ₹200 crore but now it had risen by over 300%, said Mr. Manoharan. Vexed over the inordinate delay in its implementation, various associations staged a rally in Mannargudi a couple of days ago demanding early implementation of the project which will have two block railway stations enroute: Paravakottai and Madukkur.
The BriefWire