The pamphlet brought out by the United Democratic Front (UDF) questioning the economic, social and environmental viability of K-Rail (SilverLine) spotlights the “disquiet” in the Left Democratic Front (LDF) about the semi high-speed- rail project.
The propaganda sheet points out that the Communist Party of India (CPI ) and the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) had echoed the concerns raised by the UDF, though belatedly.
[A CPI State council meeting had reportedly felt that the government should keep land acquisition in abeyance until it negated public doubts about compensation and rehabilitation of those displaced by the project. However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said in Idukki that the government would forge ahead with the project.]
The KSSP had urged the government to publish the detailed project report (DPR). The UDF said the KSSP had pointed out the discrepancy between K-Rail and the government estimates regarding the cost and financial viability of the scheme. Mr. Vijayan had portrayed those who opposed SilverLine as ultras. If so, the KSSP would fall in the bracket, the pamphlet said.
Augment network
Ideally, the State should augment the existing railway network, rectify curves and modernise the signalling system to run fast trains between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod. Railways and the Centre would find such a project more feasible and approve the regional enhancement of the national broad-gauge grid. It could network the four airports in the State via an affordable air link to reduce travel time.
Kerala could ill-afford the K-Rail. Its economy was precarious. The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation was dying with zero capital infusion. The government struggled to pay salaries and pensions. A ₹4-lakh crore MRTS for the elite would sink the State in irredeemable debt, it said.
The pamphlet also claimed that the steep railway embankment required for the K-Rail would geographically divide the State asunder. The barrier would impede natural drainage and exacerbate floods and mudslips. Moreover, the government would not allow any expansion of roads or construction within a minimum 2 km radius of the SilverLine. Development works in local bodies abutting the K-Rail track would grind to a halt.
Eco impact
SilverLine would subsume large tracts of ecologically fragile wetlands, mangrove forests and paddy fields. It would burrow through hills and destroy forestland. The environmental crime was a fallout of the SilverLine, which required a large quantity of mined granite.
The UDF said the K-Rail ticket rate, as per current calculations, was beyond the pale of ordinary folk.
