Cabinet okays Rs. 52 crore for Pachalam Railway overbridge.

The State Cabinet recently sanctioned Rs. 52.59 cr for the Pachalam railway overbridge. Announcing the Cabinet decision, Minister K.C. Joseph told reporters in Thiruvanathapuram that work on the structure would be carried out as per the stipulations laid down by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd for the Kochi Metro Rail project.

The ambiguity about the status of the project would be removed with the Government decision to treat the Pachalam RoB project as 'preparatory work to be undertaken by DMRC on the same terms and conditions that were prevalent in the earlier set of preparatory works'.

Administrative sanction given by the Government earlier had failed to state explicitly whether the RoB project was part of the preparatory work for the Kochi Metro project or not. Work on the project had been stalled for the last several months due to the opposition by a section of people against it.

Although the Government has given the final nod for the amount, work on the project is unlikely to resume soon with the People’s Action Council spearheading an agitation rejecting the arguments of the authorities in support of the project.

Deccan Chronicle