The Congress-led United Democratic Front on Saturday held State-wide protests against the Left Democratic Front government's flagship SilverLine rail corridor project alleging it was "unscientific" and "impractical".
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan launched the protest in Ernakulam and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chief K. Sudhakaran inaugurated the event in front of the Secretariat here. Various UDF leaders led protests in the headquarters of 10 districts through which the project would pass.
SilverLine is aimed at setting up 529.45 km of rail corridor connecting Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod, reducing the travel time to just four hours.
Mr. Sudhakaran said the proposed SilverLine semi-high-speed rail project would turn out to be an economic, social, and environmental disaster for the State. He accused the government of going ahead with the project without undertaking social impact assessment and holding discussions with the stakeholders.
‘CPI(M), CPI men back stir’
Claiming that sections of Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India workers opposed the project undertaken by the Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd (K-Rail), Mr. Sudhakaran said the stir would intensify in the days to come. People cutting across religious, caste, and political lines would soon join the agitation.
Referring to the LDF’s criticism of the protests, the KPCC president said the UDF had always been a strong advocate of development projects.
“The Congress-led governments have been credited with realising mega projects, including the Vizhinjam seaport project, Kochi Smart City and airports in spite of fierce opposition by various parties, including the CPI(M). On the other hand, the LDF cannot boast of spearheading any such infrastructure project that have gone on to fuel the State’s progress,” Mr. Sudhakaran claimed.
Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Deputy Leader of the Opposition P.K. Kunhalikutty, and UDF convener M.M. Hassan led the protests in Kottayam, Kozhikode, and Alappuzha respectively.
