The Kerala High Court on Thursday asked the Centre to explain its stand on the social impact assessment (SIA) survey being conducted by the State government for the proposed SilverLine rail project.
Justice Devan Ramachandran orally observed that the court wanted to know whether the Centre was in favour of the SIA survey or not. It was being done by the State government on the ground that it had got in-principle approval from the the Railway Board. In fact, the project was a joint venture in which the Centre had 49% shareholding. The Centre would also benefit from the project.
The court made these oral observations when a batch of writ petitions challenging the SIA for the project came up for hearing.
Individual notices
The court also asked the Centre to clarify whether prior individual notices should be given to the owners of the land where survey stones were erected or whether any publication of such a notice was enough. Landowners got startled when all of a sudden officials entered their land and placed the survey stones. As the Centre was an equal partner in the project, it was also its responsibility to see that it was being conducted in accordance with the law. In fact, the State government was supposed to keep the Centre informed of the developments in connection with the joint venture.
The court asked the Centre whether the SIA could be carried out on the land which did not come under the proposed alignment for the project. The Centre should also answer whether survey could be done for pre-investment projects involving more than ₹100 crore without the final approval of the Cabinet committee of the Centre. The court said that the Centre also should tell the court whether the SIA survey was being undertaken in violation of the Kerala Survey and Boundaries Rule. It could not "play a hide and seek" on these issues.
The court also orally observed that if the State government made it clear that the land where the survey was being conducted would not be frozen and cooperative banks would allow owners to mortgage the land, the fear in the mind of the people on the survey could be allayed and the government could go ahead with the project very smoothly. But, the State government was yet to clarify on these issues. Besides, it was yet to answer the court's question whether the concrete stones laid as part of the SIA survey would be removed after the completion of the survey or left permanently on the land, the court said.
