Silverline project not dropped, says Kerala CM; Opposition remains unconvinced
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the government would go ahead with the Silverline semi-high-speed railway project upon receiving the nod from the central government.
Vijayan said that the rumours about the government dropping the project or freezing the project were untrue. Pinarayi blamed the Central government for creating obstacles for political reasons and stalling the project. He was responding to the demand for an adjournment from UDF MLA, Roji M John, in the legislative assembly on Thursday.
The opposition staged a walkout after Speaker AN Shamseer denied the demand for an adjournment motion. They wanted the government to address the concerns of landowners affected by the project survey. The opposition alleged that the landowners are unable to sell the land or mortgage it because the government has marked the land for a social impact survey in connection with the Silverline project.
“The central government has approved the project in principle. They had asked the state government to expedite the land acquisition and other clearances while the arrangements are made with Japan International Cooperation Agency for co-financing. The geotechnical, hydrological, and Comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (CEIA) are underway,” he informed the house.
The Opposition pointed out the recent order by the revenue department to redeploy the revenue officials involved in the survey for Silverline, as an indication of the government backing out from the project. However, the Chief Minister said that the redeployment was made to utilise the services of officers for other matters while awaiting the central nod for Silverline.
He also clarified that the survey was conducted and yellow stones were laid only for social impact study and hence there were no problems for landowners to transact the land. He also said that land acquisition for the project comes only after the government issues notification under section 11(1) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (LARR Act, 2013).
The opposition leader VD Satheesan was not satisfied with the reply. He said the survey done under section 4(1) created practical difficulties for the landowners. “No national bank or new generation bank will be ready to give loans with the surveyed land as collateral. The government has created trouble for these people by jumping into the project without adequate clearance. The chief minister knows that this project is not going to happen. Even if the centre approves we will not let the project happen, because it will be an environmental and economic disaster for the state,” said Satheesan.