THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: SilverLine semi-high speed rail project needs to be implemented as soon as possible, and people who support the state’s development should intervene in correcting the Centre’s stand on the project, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said. He reiterated that SilverLine can be implemented only with the Centre’s approval and added that the state can’t go ahead on its own with the project.
Replying to criticism that the state showed undue haste on SilverLine, the chief minister said the state was only trying to implement those things that could be done before obtaining the Centre’s permission for the project. “Unfortunately, those who speak on behalf of the Central government say this project should not be implemented in the state,” he said in an oblique reference to the BJP leaders from the state.
To a query, Pinarayi said the social impact assessment for the project has not come to a halt. Though the laying of stones is progressing, the Centre’s stand against the project has come as a major stumbling block, he said.
SilverLine is being presented as an LDF project, but in reality it is a project aimed at ensuring a ‘better tomorrow’ for the state, Pinarayi said. “Attempts to oppose and wreck such a project amounts to committing the highest form of cruelty towards the state,” he added.