Thiruvananthapuram/Kottayam, Apr 23 (PTI) The Opposition parties, including the Congress on Saturday asked the Kerala government to allay the apprehensions of the public over its ambitious SilverLine rail project.
The state government has planned to conduct a panel discussion involving experts who are in favour of and against the proposed K-Rail project next week.
Union Minister and senior BJP leader V Muraleedharan urged the government to call those who are opposed to the Left government’s flagship project and address their concerns.
Echoing a similar view, the Congress said while the government holds talks with prominent people over the technical aspects of the initiative, the opposition UDF has reached out to people of the state, who are worried about losing their lands.
“While the Left government held talks with the prominent people in the society, the Congress-led UDF went to the common people and heard their concerns. Now the government says the ministers will go door-to-door to convince the people.
The people of the state know that if the project is implemented, they will be the victims. The people are with the UDF,” Leader of Opposition, V D Satheesan, told the media in Kottayam.
He also asserted that his party will not allow the CPI(M)-led government to continue with the laying of the survey stones.
“We will not be cowed down by any threat by the government or the police,” he said.
The Congress and the BJP have been uprooting the survey stones laid by the K-Rail officials as part of the social impact study of the project. Both the parties have accused of the government of using ‘excess policing’ to disperse the protestors.
Addressing reporters in Thiruvananthapuram, Muraleedharan said, “The government of Kerala is saying that they are ready to talk to those who are opposed to the project.” The Kerala CM should hold talks with the people, who will lose their lands and dwellings, instead of the so-called technical experts, he suggested.
He further said the government is yet to invite E Sreedharan, the metroman, to discuss the project.
The Left government has scheduled a two-hour-long discussion, tentatively on April 27 or 28 at the Mascot Hotel in the state capital and it will be moderated by P K Sudheer, state Principal Secretary (Science and Technology).
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has been staging widespread protests over the SilverLine rail project, also known as K-Rail, of the Left government.
The government had on January 15 published the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the project with an estimated cost of the project as Rs 63,941 crores.
The DPR says the project is expected to complete by 2025 and will reduce journey time from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod from 12 hours to just 4 hours.
The 529.45 km long project is executed by Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited (K-Rail), a joint venture of Government of Kerala and Ministry of Railways, for implementing the railway infrastructure in the state. PTI RRT ROH ROH
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Source: The Print
