THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Lawyer and civil rights activist Prasant Bhushan has termed the proposed K-Rail project as “socio, economical and environmental disaster”. Instead of going for a standalone rail project, the state government should focus on upgrading the existing Railway line, he said here on Saturday.
Bhushan also asked the state to call off the Vizhinjam transshipment terminal project. He said the facility built on a fragile coastline will have repercussions on the marine ecology of the state which has already been seeing unprecedented natural calamities.
Bhushan, also the co-founder of Swaraj Abhiyan, said along with climatic change, unplanned and haphazard constructions have brought disaster to the state. The K-Rail project, where the proposed cost is Rs 1 lakh crore, will entail cutting down of large tracts of forests, hills and mountains.
“It will be nothing but an ecological disaster at a time when Kerala is already reeling under unprecedented natural calamities. I understand that the ticket fare will be Rs 5,000 once the K -Rail project is implemented. Who will have the money to cough up for such an expensive ticket? The state government will have to repay a loan of Rs 5,000 crore every year to the Japanese development agency JICA with interest, making it economically unviable,” said Bhushan.