THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Union government has made it clear that no clearance has been given to go ahead with land acquisition for the SilverLine project in the state. Replying to questions in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reiterated that the project has not yet been sanctioned. He was responding to questions from Congress MPs Hibi Eden and Benny Behnan.
Hibi Eden raised different issues surrounding the project including environmental and social impact and financial viability. In a thickly populated state like Kerala, mobilising the resources would be difficult, he said, adding that the state government has been trying to hide a lot of facts. “Sufficient details of technical feasibility are not available in the DPR.
Therefore, KRDCL has been advised to provide detailed technical documents such as alignment plan, particulars of railway land and private land, crossings over existing railway network, duly depicting affected railway asset through the zonal railway after site verification for a detailed examination of the project and to arrive at a conclusion about the feasibility of the project,” the minister said in a written reply.The concerns about environmental issues are real and genuine.
“If the project is implemented in the way it is currently designed, we don’t know what will be the environmental impact,” the minister told the House while replying to Hibi Eden. The final sanction for the project depends on detailed techno-economic feasibility, said the minister. Existing tracks in Kerala are sinking every year.
“The in-principle nod is for preliminary work including the feasibility study, survey and DPR. Preparing DPR doesn’t mean that land is given from the Railways for the project,” he said. The minister further made it clear that after February, the state government has not submitted new documents or clarifications on the project. Also the Centre has not re-examined the project.
Concerns over project