Rail extension project a non-starter

GURUVAYUR: Putting an end to the development dreams of the Temple City, the much-accelerated Guruvayur-Thirunavaya Railway Line Extension Project is going to face a premature death.Subsequent to the dumb response in the recent Rail Budget, the Southern Railway officials have begun the process of winding up the project. On Tuesday, they ordered the shutting down of the land acquisition office based at Guruvayur with effect from March 31,sources said.With one tahsildar in the lead, there were around 20 state government officials in this office on deputation,and they didn’t get anyofficial communique from any side. But, the deputy chief engineer of the construction wing of the Southern Railway issued notice to the tahsildar to surrender all the relevant documents and the office key at the Land Acquisition General Office, Thrissur, on or before March 31.As part of the Guruvayur-Thirunavaya Railway Extension Project, the land acquisition office began functioning in 2007. The officers were engaged in acquiring lands in Thrissur district as well as the acquisition of the Guruvayur station yard. The proposed lands were classified into 14 blocks. The 4th, 5th and the 6th blocks were acquired and were owned by the Southern Railway, and full compensation settlement process is also over.Owing to the lack of funds, the registration process of the other blocks are not completed yet. But, 40 landowners have handed over their land documents and are under the custody of Guruvayur land acquisition office. Without publishing the project cancellation notification in the government gazette, the officials are not permitted to return the documents to the originalowners.In total, the Guruvayur railway yard construction had also come to a standstill. Around 5 acres of land is essential for this work. This was included in the 1, 2, and 3 blocks of the proposed land acquisition project.