Metroman Sreedharan Warns Of Catastrophic Consequences Of Pursuing Kerala’s Silver Line Project, Says Centre’s Nod Unlikely

The Centre is unlikely to give its approval for the SilverLine Project in Kerala as there were lot of faults in it, Metroman E Sreedharan said on Thursday (6 January), even as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan asserted that his government would not back down from developmental activities by yielding to protests from some people.

'I don't think the Centre will give its approval for this project because there are a lot of technical errors in it,' Sreedharan told reporters at Malappuram.

Noting that the railways is a central subject and not a state subject, the Metroman said he had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi citing the problems involved in the project.

'I wrote to the Prime Minister because the state government started acquiring land before getting the sanction for the project,' said Sreedharan, who is also a special invitee to the national executive of the BJP.

The Metroman, who is credited with changing the face of public transport in India with his leadership in building the Konkan Railway and the Delhi Metro, said a lot of changes may be required in the project and acquiring land before getting sanction for the project may cause wastage of money.

The state government's plan is to connect the 540 kilometre stretch from Thiruvananthapuram in the South to Kasaragod in the north by semi-high-speed rail, under its ambitious SilverLine project. The project to be developed by K-Rail — a joint venture of the Kerala government and the Railway Ministry for developing railway infrastructure in the southern state — is expected to reduce the travel time between these two ends of the state to around four hours.

Sreedharan said the SilverLine will divide Kerala as high concrete or masonry walls have to be provided on either side to prevent trespass of people and animals.

He said providing solid walls on either side is a sure environmental disaster as it will block natural drainage and will be an eyesore as well.

The fate of Kuttanad, which gets flooded easily, will get repeated over the entire length of 393 km, where the SilverLine is at ground level, Sreedharan said.

He also questioned the government for not releasing its Detailed Project Report (DPR), saying the actual cost of the project will be revealed only through the DPR.

Meanwhile, addressing civic dignitaries and people's representatives in Kochi today, Chief Minister Vijayan said it is not right to abandon the project because some people are protesting against it.

Stating that the SilverLine project is being done for the better future of the state, the Chief Minister said his government would not give into opposition pressure.

'It is the duty of the government to lead the state to progress,' Vijayan said.

The Chief Minister claimed that the government had initially discussed the project with the MLAs. When it was discussed with the MLAs and UDF leaders, they had raised some questions.

Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan rejected the claim, alleging that the Chief Minister was not even ready for a two-hour debate in the Assembly on the SilverLine.

'The Chief Minister, who finds time for discussions with civic dignitaries, should explain why the discussion was not allowed when the notice for adjournment motion was moved in the Assembly,' he said in a statement.

Satheesan also urged the government to convene a special assembly session to discuss issues related to the SilverLine.

Starting from the state capital, SilverLine trains will have stoppages at Kollam, Chengannur, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Tirur, Kozhikode and Kannur before reaching Kasaragod.

The Youth Congress on Thursday took the protest against the SilverLine to the streets by waving black flags at the Chief Minister when he reached the TDM Hall in Kochi for talking to civic dignitaries about the project.

The police removed the three protesting Youth Congress workers from the spot.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)