THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a major development, the state government has decided to recall the revenue officials deputed to the 11 offices of K-Rail for the social impact assessment for the SilverLine project. It is learnt that 205 officials have since been asked to report back to their parent departments.
Though there were reports that the government has decided to drop the SilverLine project, the offices of the chief minister and the revenue minister denied the same. CPM state secretary M V Govindan too told reporters on Saturday that the project has not been called off. Govindan added that the LDF Government is waiting for the Centre’s clearance.
Meanwhile the Opposition said the government should withdraw from the project. “If the reports on the government dropping the project are true, then the Opposition welcomes the same. If it’s not true, then we would continue our protest until the SilverLine project is called off,” said Opposition leader V D Satheesan in Kochi.
The SilverLine project is being envisaged as the dream project of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Contrary to his expectations, stiff opposition from the UDF and also from the local people led to controversies from day one. Pinarayi had informed the Legislative Assembly that the project will not be cancelled. The K-Rail project is envisaged to connect Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod with semi high-speed trains covering a total distance of 529.45 km in less than four hours.