KOCHI/ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Central government on Friday submitted before the Kerala High Court that the proceedings of land acquisition for the SilverLine project should be stopped at this stage as even feasibility of the present alignment has not been agreed upon by the ministry of railways.
Going a step further, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday stated that land acquisition for the semi high-speed rail project cannot be done without the final location survey, land plan and sanction. After meeting a BJP delegation led by Metroman E Sreedharan, the railway minister tweeted: “Metroman Shri E Sreedharan Ji explained serious technical issues in the SilverLine project. Without FLS, land plan and sanction, land acquisition cannot be done.”
The delegation also urged the minister not to issue clearance for the project In the High Court, the Centre submitted: “Granting of in-principle approval only means approval to go ahead with the preparation of DPR which brings out the complete details of the project including financial (aspects). Whether to take up a project or not is decided based on the details brought out in the DPR. Any project expenditure is incurred once DPR is approved and sanction communicated. In the case of SilverLine, this approval has not been granted so far,” the Centre said.
There were complaints that SilverLine will be an obstacle to the expansion of Angamaly railway station which operates railway siding for the Food Corporation of India. The statement was filed in response to the appeal filed by the state government challenging a single judge’s order deferring the survey of the land of a few persons, who had approached the court against the project.
S Manu, Assistant Solicitor General of India, said the DPR has been submitted by Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) and is under scrutiny by the Railway Board. KRDCL has planned this corridor parallel to the existing track of approximately 200km in length using 185 ha of railway land.
“On the stretch where the proposed line runs parallel to the existing line, no space will be left available for any future expansion of the Railways and accommodate the future third or fourth line. Sufficient details regarding technical feasibility are not available in the DPR submitted.”
‘Financial viability of project questionable’
Kochi/T’Puram: Therefore, KRDCL has been advised to provide detailed technical documents such as alignment plan, particulars of railway land and private land, and crossings over existing railway network -- duly depicting affected railway assets -- for the detailed examination of the project and to arrive at a conclusion about the project’s feasibility, the Centre stated.
“Also, the financial viability of this railway project of Rs 63,941 crore is questionable. Since the railway ministry is a joint venture partner in KRDCL, the debt component of Rs 33,700 crore will finally come on the ministry as debt servicing, which is not possible with mainly passenger traffic.
This will also be examined and firmed up after the finalisation of technical parameters.” The BJP delegation which met Union Railway minister in Delhi comprised Union Minister V Muraleedharan, BJP state president K Surendran, senior leaders Kummanam Rajasekharan and P K Krishnadas.
Metroman Shri E Sreedharan Ji explained serious technical issues in the SilverLine project. Without FLS, land plan and sanction, land acquisition cannot be done
Ashwini Vaishnaw, Railway Minister