Vijayan must clarify on high-speed rail: Opposition

TRIVANDRUM: Kerala’s Congress party-led opposition has sought a clarification from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on his ambitious Silverline semi high-speed rail project.

Ramesh Chennithala, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, on Thursday, wrote a leter to him demanding an all-party meeting to discuss it.

The critics say the state government was going ahead with the project without the federal sanction to facilitate speculative land deals ahead of state elections while the India Railways is already increasing the speed of existing trains multifold.

The Rs639.41 billion project envisages equal equity participation of the federal government (10:10) besides large-scale borrowing (80 per cent).

However, the opposition says, the federal government rejected the project as it currently concentrates on upgrading existing rail networks and new metros.

Chennithala asked the government to stop all works related to the project, including land acquisition and bring clarity on the proposed “ten smart cities along the way.”

“The state government is going ahead with a project, which the federal finance ministry rejected, is for its real estate business prospects and corruption,” he said.

“The irregularities and corruption in K-fone,

E-mobility, Brewery-distillery, Sprinklr, mining and similar projects only strengthen the suspicion.”

He alleged that the state did not conduct an environmental impact study before clearing the project with a few months into the general elections.

Last month, the state said it was expecting the federal nod soon for the project touted as a game-changer in its infrastructure growth and economic prosperity.

The state cabinet has already approved a detailed project report of the north-south rail link, and the process of land acquisition is in progress.

The Silverline will be running parallel to the existing railway line from Kasaragod to Tirur before taking a green-field route on the remaining stretch.

The previous government had to apply brakes on the project planned on elevated track due to stiff local resistance.

Local communities oppose the “technologically unviable and capital-intensive’ project fearing large-scale displacement as the land acquisition process began.

National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), had recently called for an urgent review of the project “in the interest of the ecology, economy and people’s livelihoods.”