KOTTAYAM: For Roslin Philip and Liji, both in Kottayam district of Kerala, their few cents of land is of no value to them anymore.
They claim their land is 'worthless' as it has been earmarked for construction of the semi-high speed rail corridor, SilverLine project, which sees no signs of taking off in the near future as the ruling Left government is awaiting the Centre's green signal.
While the LDF government has been claiming, vehemently, that it would implement the project in the southern state, its actions -- of stopping laying of K-Rail survey stones and redeploying staff posted for conducting a social impact assessment (SIA) study -- speak a different story.
The dichotomy between the government's words and actions have led to uncertainty regarding not only the fate of the project, but also of the more than 3,000 acres of land earmarked for the rail corridor.
"One cent of land here is valued at around Rs three lakh. But no one is coming forward to buy it. If we go to a bank to get a loan, they either refuse or offer very small amounts. All because our land is meant to be used for the SilverLine project," Roslin from Changanassery, told PTI.
Liji from Madappally, shared her similar experience when she tried to get a loan against her around eight cents of land.
"No one wants to buy it. None of the cooperative banks are even giving loans against it. Those willing to give loans are offering very small amounts," she told PTI.
Roslin also said she could not even use her land to grow pineapples as some persons claiming to be Left party workers allegedly threatened to destroy the crops.
M T Thomas, who hails from Mulakkulam village in Kottayam district, narrated a similar state of affairs.
"The total lands of over 3,000 acres are frozen as they (state government) have not recalled their land acquisition notification. While the notification is in place, we will not be able to carry out any transactions with respect to our properties," he said while speaking to PTI.
However, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and state Revenue Minister K Rajan said in the Kerala assembly that there are no hindrances in people selling or mortgaging land that was earmarked for the project as neither the state government nor the Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd (KRDCL) or K-Rail has claim over them.
"At present there is no legal impediment to the sale and purchase of the land demarcated as part of the social impact study," the Chief Minister had said.
Rajan also said no land has been attached by the government and there is no restriction on sale, mortgage or any other transactions with regard to the lands earmarked for the project.
The statements were termed as "misleading" by Thomas.
"They are misleading people. I was a bank manager. If I got to verify a land put up for mortgage, I cannot certify it as free of encumbrances if I see a yellow survey stone there. Moreover, as long as the state government does not withdraw its notifications for acquisition of those lands, they would be considered as encumbered. No one would even think of buying it," Thomas claimed.
On the recent government order for redeploying staff posted for carrying out SIA study for the SilverLine project, Thomas said that according to an August 2021 notification, even the establishment charges -- like salaries -- in connection with those personnel were not to be spent till the rail corridor received approval from the Centre and Railway Board.
"Despite that, Rs 16.75 crore was remitted by KRDCL to the state government as establishment charges on January 19, 2022 and then Rs 19.5 crore for one more year. However, KRDCL has denied payment of the Rs 19.5 crore," he said.
On this issue, Rajan has claimed that around Rs 20 crore was deposited by KRDCL towards establishment charges and out of that around Rs 8 crore has been spent till then. He also said the notifications were only regarding SIA studies and not for land acquisition.
For Roslin and Liji, the inability to sell or mortgage their lands are not the only problems caused by the project.
Their decision to oppose laying of survey stones, in their lands and that of others in their village, has led to several criminal cases being registered against them by the police.
"Several criminal cases have been registered against me and my husband. We do not even know what all charges have been imposed on us," Liji claimed.
Roslin alleged that police even lodged non-bailable cases against those who did not even participate in the protests against the laying of the survey stones.
"They are trying to intimidate or scare people from protesting against the project. But they cannot scare away everyone," she said.
Vijayan has rejected the UDF-opposition demands to withdraw cases against those who participated in the anti-SilverLine protests, saying the action was taken for spreading misinformation in the project areas and obstructing the officials from discharging their duties.
Visuals of police personnel hauling away Roslin, while her crying young daughter clung to her, was one the highlights of the state-wide protest against the project which would cover a 530-kilometre stretch from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod and be developed by K-Rail, a joint venture of the Kerala government and the Ministry of Railways.
The semi-high speed rail corridor aims to ease transportation along the entire north and south stretch of Kerala and reduce the travel time to less than four hours as against 12 to 14 hours at present.
However, for landowners like Roslin, Liji and Thomas, the project is less of a silver lining and more like a Sword of Damocles as they await clarity regarding the fate of their property.