Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not given any assurance to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with regard to the SilverLine semi-high-speed railway project during their recent meeting in New Delhi, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan has said.
Speaking to media after visiting families likely to be displaced by the proposed project at Karikkakom in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, Mr. Muraleedharan said what Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in Parliament a few hours after the meeting was the opinion of the Prime Minister on the project.
The Chief Minister had been trying to mislead the public after his meeting with the Prime Minister. This was mainly aimed at maintaining the morale of the officials involved in the project. Those who listened to the reply of the Union Railway Minister in Parliament never interpreted that the Union government was in favour of the project.
The in-principle approval given for the project did not mean that the State government could lay alignment stones in private properties. Social impact assessment of the project could be done without laying marker stones, Mr. Muraleedharan said.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said that the Prime Minister was sympathetic to the State’s demand for the SilverLine project after lending a patient hearing, while allaying the apprehension about the future of the project.
However, the Railway Minister had distanced from the project while replying to questions of members in Parliament. Mr. Muraleedharan also assured the families likely to be affected here that the project would not be implemented in the State under any circumstances.
