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Southern Railway has agreed to construct a 3-metre wide tarred pucca road at Vattavila in Thiruvananthapuram after sustained protests by residents and repeated representations by the Nemom Action Council. The decision follows the takeover of a portion of Vattavila Suresh Road for railway line-doubling works near Nemom, for which the Kerala government had transferred land after receiving over INR 1.15 crore from the railways. The new road will be built on railway land and later handed over to the city corporation for maintenance, subject to formal procedures.
Southern Railway has agreed to construct a 3-metre wide tarred pucca road along Vattavila Suresh Road in Thiruvananthapuram after strong opposition from local residents over the loss of road access due to railway expansion works. Advertisement
The Kerala government had earlier taken over a portion of the existing road and handed it to the railways for line-doubling work near Nemom railway station. For this land transfer, the state received an advance amount of more than INR 1.15 crore from the railways. However, around 10 cents of public road came under railway control without an alternative access route being properly arranged, which led to daily travel difficulties for several families in the area.
Residents, along with the Nemom Action Council, raised objections and submitted petitions to the chief minister and the land revenue commissioner. They pointed out that the acquisition had disrupted regular movement and requested restoration of connectivity. The issue gained attention after continued protests and public representations.
During a land acquisition hearing chaired by the district deputy collector for Land Acquisition, railway officials agreed to construct a 3-metre wide tarred road on the land now under railway custody. They informed the hearing that once the road is built, it can be handed over to the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation for maintenance. However, the railways did not commit to maintaining the road directly.
Officials from the special tahsildar's office, which is handling the land acquisition process, attended the hearing along with railway representatives and members of the action council. Earlier, revenue authorities had maintained that there was no procedural lapse in the takeover, even though residents continued to question the absence of a proper alternative road at the time of acquisition.
As per the understanding discussed at the hearing, the corporation will need to submit a formal request to obtain the land on lease from the railways if it is to take up long-term maintenance of the road. The decision provides immediate relief to residents, though clarity on execution timelines and administrative formalities is still awaited.
The Nemom line-doubling project is part of broader efforts to strengthen railway infrastructure in the region. However, the Vattavila episode underlines the need for better coordination between railways and local authorities when public access routes are affected by infrastructure projects.
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