THRISSUR: Even as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan affirmed that the SilverLine Project is a "green project" and would not cause any environmental degradation, social activist Medha Patkar chose to participate in a campaign against the SilverLine semi-high-speed rail project on Friday. She urged the people to protest against the project, terming it as "anti-democratic and corporate-friendly."
“If we have to change the development paradigm, we need people’s struggles. Legal battle along with ground-level struggles is needed against K-Rail,” said Medha while addressing a campaign organised by the K-Rail SilverLine Viruddha Janakeeya Samithi.
“It is sad that a Left government that did great work during the floods and the pandemic has given a statement that the K-Rail is a green project. How can a project, which leaves thousands of people homeless and destroys so much agricultural land be a green project?” she asked.
“It has not been discussed in the Assembly in detail. No proper socio-economic assessment has been done,” argued Medha.
She called for assessment surveys by local bodies to assess the impact of the project in each area and added, “super infrastructure projects like K-Rail destroy nature. What the common man needs is pure drinking water and food. The Constitution gives the right for people to be part of the developmental process of the country. K-Rail cannot be implemented without your participation.”
“The ongoing land acquisition for the project is against the High Court order such a process. What is happening now is not acquisition, but occupation. Placing stones in private properties without intimating the owner is intimidation,” Medha said.
“It is claimed that economic growth and job opportunities justify such projects. Our previous experiences show that these claims are bogus,” added Medha calling for statewide 'yatra' against the project and proposed people's committees be formed to assess the environmental impact.
The activist said that these projects could also be privatised later, going by “the way our airports and rail projects have been privatised”
“This is a fight against the denial of justice to citizens. If they ignore the appeal, we have to challenge them,” added Medha urging the people to question distorted developmental activities. She said that whenever people questioned these activities, they had been labelled as "anti-development" or "anti-national."