KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has sought the views of the state government and Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd on a petition seeking to initiate a contempt of court case for allegedly violating the assurance given by the state that it will carry out the land acquisition proceedings for the semi high-speed rail corridor project, SilverLine, only with the sanction of the Central government or other relevant authorities.
The contempt of court petition was filed by M T Thomas, Mulakulam, Kottayam, and others. A joint venture agreement was entered into between the Ministry of Railways, Government of India and Government of Kerala for infrastructure development of the Railways. A company, Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd (K-Rail), was formed.
The government had assured this court that they would proceed with the Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod SilverLine project only after getting concurrence from the Central government as well as the Railway Board and other statutory authorities.
While disposing of the petitions challenging the land acquisition, the court had recorded the submission. In the contempt petition, the petitioners submitted that in total disregard of the undertaking given to the court, K-Rail has invited a tender for an environment impact assessment (EIA), which has to be completed by January 2023.
The petitioners alleged that the government is acting in haste and it is in the process of acquiring land without obtaining necessary clearances from the Central government. They argued that the government has taken up a project that incurs huge expenses which the state with its meagre resources will not be able to afford. The project is likely to be dropped midway and if, by the time, the government takes steps to acquire their valuable property, it would result in grave loss. A large extent of paddy land will have to be converted resulting in grave adverse consequences to the environment.