THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Having drawn flak earlier for not discussing its ambitious SilverLine semi high-speed railway project in the assembly, the state government on Monday sought to catch the Opposition off guard, conceding to its demand for a debate by halting the proceedings of the House.
However, the Opposition cornered the government alleging data fudging in DPR, a charge that went unaddressed in the chief minister’s reply. Unscathed by the criticism, Pinarayi Vijayan reasserted his government’s resolve to go ahead with the project.
It was the first instance in the tenure of the second Pinarayi government that it agreed to discuss an adjournment m0tion in the assembly. The government had earlier declined a similar motion on the same topic last October. The u-turn came amid protests in different parts of the state over laying of survey stones, which often turned violent.
UDF MLAs, beginning with P C Vishnunadh who moved the motion, raised concerns over financial viability, ecological damage and technical feasibility. They raised doubts about rehabilitation of the affected people and attacked the police for its high-handedness in dealing with the protestors. The fact that the government agreed to a discussion was termed climbdown.
‘Entire population will be victim of SilverLine’
“The entire population in the state is going to be the victim of SilverLine, not just those who lose land for it. It will destroy the state ecologically, financially and socially. Those who cannot manage KSRTC have come up with projects like SilverLine. It will be a huge burden on us.
There should be an open discussion on it,” said Opposition Leader V D Satheesan. On the protection fences along the proposed railway track, he alleged that the project will divide the state into two. He said the project cost would run up to Rs 2 lakh crore upon completion.
Quoting liberally from the detailed project report, Pinarayi dismissed the Opposition’s allegations. “By exaggerating the debt burden, the Opposition is trying to deny the posterity a crucial development project. There is nothing unusual about taking loans for such mega projects.
We are getting loans for 0.2 to 1.5 per cent subject to exchange rate value, with a repayment period of 40 years. Our vision is that the state’s economy will grow in these years with the help of such development projects. The opposition raises baseless allegations because they do not have the vision,” he said Pinarayi.