Experts and known personalities from various walks of life in Kerala have urged the left-front government in the state to freeze the semi-high-speed rail project, titled as Silver Line.
An open letter in this regard by around 40 known personalities, which even included some left-lenients, to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan could be considered as an embarrassment to the government that has been aggressively campaigning for the project and terming the protests against the project as politically motivated.
Incidentally the experts sent the letter close on the heels of the government releasing the detailed project report on Saturday after facing much criticism for keeping it confidential. The protests against the project also aggravated with the project details coming out.
According to the letter signed by around 40 known personalities, the state's fragile public finance and increasing ecological vulnerability were posing major concern over the project. The "unilateral declaratory fashion" of the government with regard to the project without the much-needed political consensus and public debate was dismaying beyond words. The government should freeze the project until a diligent articulation on the priorities for the state's development, they demanded.
The government should come out with a white paper on the existing transportation systems in the state and explore options of enhancing the existing railway systems. The government should also explain to the people the need for taking forward the fully debt-funded and foreign technology-based project by sidelining other welfare need of the people in the wake of the Covid pandemic.
As per the DPR made public on Saturday, in the 530 kilometre long rail line, 293 kilometre passing through the ground would require fencing. The alignment of the rail line was parallel to the Western Ghats and hence the impact on biodiversity need to be carefully assessed it said.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan of the Congress said that the concerns that the rail project would affect the natural water flow and affect ecology were vindicated as the detailed project came out.
The major benefits of the project being highlighted by the government are reducing the Thiruvananthapuram-Kasargod travel time from around ten hours to four hours and reduction in carbon emission with a possible shift of many road users to the high-speed rail.
The estimated cost is Rs. 63,940 crore, which experts say that could be over Rs 1 lakh crore. The project was expected to be commissioned by 2025-26. But only the demarcation of the land for social impact study was progressing, that too amidst stiff local resistance.
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