The State government will initiate procedures for acquiring land for SilverLine project only after clearing concerns of people, Revenue Minister K. Rajan has said.
He was speaking at ‘Janasamaksham SilverLine’ , a programme to explain about the Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod semi high speed rail project, here on Monday.
“There are many misunderstandings about land acquisition for the SilverLine project. The stones currently laid in some places are not for acquiring land. It is for identifying places to conduct social impact study. After the study, a hearing will be held for the people, who are going to be affected by the project. The land will be acquired after providing compensation, which is four times of the market price of the land, and a comprehensive rehabilitation package,” the Minster said.
The government had prepared the project after many rounds of discussions, he added.
“If land with a width of 60 meter has to be acquired for a highway, only 15-25 meters is need for K-rail. Of the 530-km-long K-rail, 137 km are either tunnels or sky path. Provision will be given to cross the line in each 500 metres. So there is no basis for the allegation that the SilverLine project will divide the State into two,” the Minister said.
K-rail would add a new lesson to the development history of the State, said Devaswom Minister K. Radhakrishnan. Projects like K-rail was necessary for matching the infrastructure development of the State to its social development, he noted.
Higher Education Minister R. Bindu too noted that transportation facility in the state need to be developed according to the changing times. The project will provide employment for 50000 people during the construction and 10,000 people after completion, she said.
The programme, to clear doubts of people, was organised by the government and the Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited.
