The United Democratic Front (UDF) on Friday resolved to ratchet up its campaign against the SilverLine semi-high-speed railway project.
Speaking to journalists after chairing a conclave of UDF leaders here on Friday, UDF convener M.M. Hassan said the Opposition would forge a human chain along the railway project’s alignment on Independence Day.
UDF workers and people dispossessed by the quixotic project would link hands and form a living wall from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod. As a precursor of the human rampart, UDF workers would stage demonstrations against SilverLine across the State on May 13, 14 and 15.
The rallies will inform people of the adverse social, economic and environmental impact of the “misplaced” mega project.
Mr. Hassan said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had challenged the people by stating that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government would forge ahead with SilverLine, irrespective of the outcome of the social impact study.
Mr. Vijayan had failed to convince the LDF allies, including the Communist Party of India (CPI), about the need for such a mega scheme that would push the State into an irredeemable debt trap. The State would not brook such a hard-nosed policy. The Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP), a CPI(M) think tank, had damned SilverLine.
Mr. Vijayan had unleashed the police against residents who resisted laying K-Rail markers on their private land.
Tens of thousands stood to lose their homes, land and livelihood to SilverLine. The people had no stake in the project, which advantaged only well-heeled travellers. Moreover, the project would tear the State asunder. Its elevated embankment would become an artificial barrier. It would exacerbate climate change driven catastrophic events, including floods and mud slips.
The SilverLine would subsume large swathes of forests, swamps, wetlands and mangrove forests. It would use up finite natural commodities such as granite and river sand for construction.
Mr. Vijayan appeared motivated by corruption. He had allowed big corporate lenders to decide what mass rapid technology Kerala should deploy. Moreover, global consultancies had attempted to palm off obsolete technology to Kerala by holding forth the carrot of low-interest loans.
