The State government has submitted before the High Court that demarcation of boundaries of the land for the SilverLine semi high-speed rail line project is being undertaken as part of preparatory and preliminary works.
In an affidavit filed before the court, the State government said that revised orders had been issued for the acquisition of 1,221 hectares of land of various villages for the project in December 31, 2021. In fact, an order had been issued on August 18, 2021, for conducting a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) study and for constituting an expert group to evaluate the report of the same.
The order to proceed with the land acquisition as per the Section 8(2) of the LARR Act (Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act) would be issued only after getting the final approval from the Railway Board. The policy stand of the government was that it was a public project of high importance, beneficial to the State and should be implemented in the public interest, the government said
The affidavit was filed by Chief Secretary V.P. Joy in response to a contempt of court case, allegedly violating the assurance given by the State government in court that it would not carry out the land acquisition proceedings. The contempt petition was filed by M.T. Thomas from Kottayam and others.
The government said that tenders were invited for carrying out the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study or field work and preparation of Comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (CEIA) report as well as Environment Management Plan (EMP).
The social impact study shall include the extent of lands, public and private, houses, settlements and other common properties likely to be affected by the proposed acquisition. The demarcation would enable the general public and social impact assessment units to identify the land proposed for the acquisition. In fact, a detailed survey could be done only after publication of the preliminary notification for the land acquisition.
The government was confident that approval of the appropriate authority could be obtained. Being a major project, necessary preparatory and preliminary works were to be done. Unless they were done in a proper manner, the same might affect the very outcome of the project.
