THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday slammed the Centre for not including in the Union Budget the southern state's proposal for building a semi-high speed railway line for which his government has already initiated steps for acquiring land.
Welcoming the Centre's decision, the Opposition Congress and the BJP urged the state government to withdraw from the project citing the budget announcement of the launching of 400 Vande Bharat train services in three years.
The state government had requested the Centre to provide budgetary allocation for the semi-high-speed railway project of K-Rail, called the SilverLine Project.
"The Union Budget will not aid in taking forward the development of the State. The budget has also failed to address the urgent needs that the state has always raised," the Chief Minister said.
"The proposed semi-high speed K-Rail project is also not mentioned in the budget," the Chief Minister said in a statement.
State Finance Minister K N Balagopal also criticised the Centre for not considering the state's demand for budgetary allocation for the project. He said the state government initiated the project with the hope that the Centre will provide all sorts of support to transform the transport system of the state as per the needs of modern times.
"The Central government has sabotaged the aspirations of the people of the state by rejecting the proposal for Silverline project," Balagopal told PTI.
Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly, V D Satheesan, urged the state government to withdraw from the SilverLine project as the Centre's semi-high speed Vande Bharat train services will connect India's every corner including Kerala.
He said the Vande Bharat project to be implemented by the Indian Railway has same features as the SilverLine project of the state government and the operational speed of the Vande Bharat train is also 160 to 180 km/hr.
"In view of this, the state government should withdraw from the SilverLine project which will put financial burden on the people of the state besides damaging its ecology," Satheesan said.
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BJP state president K Surendran also urged the state government to withdraw from the project, saying the Centre will provide adequate consideration for Kerala when it launches the Vande Bharat train services.
The SilverLine project, which is expected to reduce travel time from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod to around four hours, is being opposed by the opposition Congress-led UDF, which has been alleging that it was "unscientific and impractical" and will put a huge financial burden on the state.
The 540 kilometre stretch from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod would be developed by K-Rail — a joint venture of the Kerala government and the Railway Ministry for developing railway infrastructure in the southern state.
Starting from the state capital, SilverLine trains will have stoppages at Kollam, Chengannur, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Tirur, Kozhikode and Kannur before reaching Kasaragod.