K-Rail route likely to be revised, says CPI(M) Kerala secretary M.V. Govindan

The Communist Party of India [CPI(M)] is considering changes to the K-Rail project, with plans to shift it to a new route, party Kerala State secretary M.V. Govindan has said.

Speaking to the media at Taliparamba in Kannur on Tuesday, he clarified that a new approach was necessary since the Centre had not yet approved the existing proposal.

Mr. Govindan said that financial constraints were not an issue and that the only hurdle was the lack of Central approval. He described K-Rail as “one of Kerala’s most important development projects in the last 50 years.”

His remarks come in support of the proposal submitted to the Railways last March by technocrat E. Sreedharan.

Mr. Sreedharan had stated that the alternative plan was more practical than the original K-Rail alignment and would not affect local residents.

“The alternative is more useful than K-Rail. There will be no problem for the locals, but the Central overnment must give permission,” he told the media in March.