Amid the election buzz across the State, a sense of indifference seems to be chugging along the stretch of local bodies covering the much-delayed Angamaly-Erumely Sabari rail project. The revival of the project was expected to be a key poll plank in the local bodies in three districts, mainly the eastern regions of Ernakulam, but political parties remain silent about it with no clarity yet on when land acquisition for the ambitious project would restart.
In Ernakulam, the proposed projects cover municipalities including Angamaly, Perumbavoor, and Muvattupuzha and grama panchayats such as Okkal, Asamannur, and Koovappady. The land acquisition procedures are expected to resume once the District Collectors concerned submit detailed proposals to the State government.
Sheo Paul, chairperson of the Congress-ruled Angamaly municipality, and T.Y. Alias, Opposition leader in the local body, Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], said the railway project was not yet a topic of discussion in the ongoing elections. Paul Pathickal, Congress leader and chairperson of the Perumbavoor municipality, shared the same view. It was widely assumed that the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) would project the efforts to revive the decades-long project as a major achievement in the local body campaign.
‘Lost interest’
Voters in the region, whose land parcels have been locked in the project, said they are fed up with raising the issue with politicians.“I know a local councillor cannot do anything about the project. So there is no point in raising it with the candidates in the local elections. But I have lost interest in voting,” said Seena Benny, a resident of Ward 11 of the Perumbavoor municipality. Her three-cent plot has been stuck in the alignment area of the project for 27 years.
M.P. Viswanathan Nair, an ex-NRI with a property in Okkal panchayat, said he has stopped casting vote since a few elections in the past following the uncertainty of his land. “I cannot sell or mortgage the land. Similar is the fate with many in the area. I understand that a few of them are planning to skip election this time,” Mr. Nair added.
Similar sentiments
Gopalan Venduvazhy, an activist based in Kothamangalam, echoed similar sentiments. “More and more affected people in the project area seem to grow indifferent towards elections as there is no concrete answer as to the fate of their properties. Many of them have been pushed to debt traps,” he said.
Former Muvattupuzha MLA Babu Paul, however, exuded confidence that the land acquisition will restart before the Assembly elections. The Collectors have been asked to submit the land acquisition proposals immediately. The processes are expected to be completed by December,” the Communist Party of India leader, who has been active in the campaign for the project, said.
Published – December 01, 2025 08:01 pm IST
