New delhi sources stated that Railway minister piyush goyal has slammed the kerala government over its "lack of cooperation" on a line that will bring the shrine city of sabarimala on the rail network and said the delay has increased the project cost by 512 per cent. Currently, there is no direct railway line connecting other towns to Sabarimala. The nearest railway stations are at kottayam, Thiruvalla and Chenganur which are about 90 kilometres from Sabarimala.
Goyal has said in a letter to kerala chief minister pinarayi vijayan that the "lack of cooperation" on the part of the state government on the Angamali-Sabarimala 111-km line project has "badly delayed its execution". This project was included in Railway Budget 1997-98 at a cost of Rs 550 crore against which part estimate for long lead items amounting to Rs 517.70 crore including Rs. 58.76 crore as the land cost of the entire project, was sanctioned in May, 2006.
He said "This has badly delayed the execution of the project and as a result, project cost has increased exponentially from Rs 550 crore in 1997 to Rs 1,566 crore in 2017". Moreover he also said that as taking forward of this project showing 512 per cent increase in project cost solely with railway funds was not possible, the Centre requested the state in three letters in 2011 and 2012 to share at least 50 per cent cost of the project. Earlier in 2015, the government of kerala agreed to share 50 per cent cost of the project. Goyal added "Unfortunately, within a year, the State government in 2016 withdrew their own consent to share 50% cost of the project. This sudden change in policy was surprising and against the interest of developing Railways in kerala, and brought into question the State Government's commitment to this important project".
