Railway doubling project to affect 197 families: SIA report

Thiruvananthapuram: The revenue department has issued the notification publishing the list of owners of land which will be acquired for the doubling of the railway line from Neyyattinkara to Parassala.
As per the notification, all persons interested in the land have been requested to lodge any objections or regarding updation of land records or title in respect of the land proposed for acquisition before the special tahsildar (LA) Unit No III, Neyyattinkara.
As per the social impact assessment (SIA) report published by the district administration, the project will affect 197 families, comprising 714 members. The report also stated that 142 houses will be affected and the project will lead to eviction of families, loss of land and livelihood.
The project aims at doubling the railway line from Neyyattinkara to Parassala and to construct railway overbridges (ROBs). Land measuring 7.87 hectares has to be acquired from Neyyattinkara, Kollayil, Parasuvaikkal and Parassala revenue villages and 0.9407 hectares will also be acquired for ROBs, which have been proposed in Kollayil, Parasuvaikkal and Parassala revenue villages.
As per the report, alternative land has not been considered for the project as only the land adjacent to the current path can be acquired for the doubling project.
Eviction of families residing in the project location is the major impact of the project, as per the report.
Two temples, an auditorium, a building owned by NSS Karayogam, NSS English Medium School, a pond, land owned by Parassala block panchayat, land owned by a religious institution, a sacred grove with a history of 700 years, land used for agriculture and an old age home are included in the project site. The congestion inside trains, loss of travel time due to passage of trains in the opposite direction necessitate speedy implementation of the project, the SIA report has stated.
At present, the track capacity usage is above 100% in this line and this leads to congestion in trains and slows down the rail transport.
According to the report, financial activities in this area are mostly centred on agriculture and commerce. The report stated that land acquisition would affect the source of income of people who derive their income from these activities.
Rehabilitation of people and ensuring livelihood of people will have to be implemented, the report has stated.
The Neyyattinkara-Parassala stretch forms the third reach in the proposed doubling project from Thiruvananthapuram to Kanyakumari.