Sabari rail project lacks State support: Centre
The Hindu
‘Local protests against land acquisition has delayed project’
Local protests against land acquisition, litigation and inadequate response from the State Government have hampered the progress of the 116-km-long Sabari rail project, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Replying to a question raised by Adoor Prakash in the House, he said the work on the Angamali-Kalady and Kalady-Perumbavoor stretches could not be taken forward due to these reasons. This, he said, had delayed the project and thus increased the cost estimate from ₹550 crore in 1997 when the project was sanctioned to ₹1,566 crore in 2011 and further to ₹2,815 crore in 2017.
The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.