Kerala clears eco hurdles for rail line

Showing its eagerness to build a 190 km new rail line, state government in Kerala has decided to overlook ecological issues to build Thalassery-Mysuru railway project, official sources said that the State government had sought permission from the regional office of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest, Climate Change in Bengaluru to carry out a survey for the rail line project through the 49-km stretch in the forests of Kerala region. The proposed line passes through the forest belts of Kannavam and Periya having rich repositories of biological diversity and chunks of tropical evergreen forests. The rail line also passes through 35 km of ecological sensitive zones, including 11 km Nagerhole National Park in Karnataka. In fact, the government making a strong pitch for the Rs.5,500-crore project when the State Forest Department had cited serious ecological damage to the Kannavam-Periya tract.