Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said the State government will not back out from the SilverLine semi-high-speed rail project, which benefits the whole State, just because of ‘unnecessary controversies’ and wrong assumptions of a section of people.
Opening Janasamaksham SilverLine, an event to explain the project to common people, he said that genuine doubts should be discussed and cleared while those who opposed the project just for the sake of opposing should not be entertained. The Chief Minister went on to explain every allegation of the anti-SilverLine protestors one by one.
He first addressed the allegation that the project will have a negative impact on the environment of the State. “Efforts have been made to exclude any ecologically fragile areas, including paddy fields, wetlands and so on. However, there is no point in alleging that the project will hinder the flow of rivers and rivulets,” he said.
“The project does not require half the amount of granite required for national highway widening,” he said.
Moving on to the allegation that the SilverLine would divide the State into two, he said the existing railway line, which is also mostly built on embankments did not seem to have divided the State, and neither have the national highway, which is also on embankment in many places.
Addressing the need for standard gauge, he said the broad gauge, which is used by Indian Railways at present, was not equipped for the speed intended for the SilverLine. “Even Indian Railways are planning to shift to standard gauge eventually. Later on, we can connect the two networks,” Mr. Vijayan said.
He also brushed aside the claim that the existing line could be upgraded by making changes in the signal city on grounds that it could still not handle the speed.
The Chief Minister said that even a full scale development of the national highway would be insufficient to hold the inflation in vehicular population and by cutting down on road transport, accidents could be reverted by 30%. He said the needs of the state in future, in the absence of the high-speed rail would cost a lot more than the SilverLine project to rectify.
The line that ran parallel to the existing railway line from Kasaragod to Tirur would move away from it later, as the existing line had too many curves, unsuitable for high-speed trains, he said and listed on the compensation packages to those who would be affected by the project.
Managing Director of Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd. V. Ajith provided a technical explanation of the project and answered the queries from the public.
