What is the controversial Kerala SilverLine project? Read all details amid political row

SilverLine project has been the reason for political turmoil in Kerala for quite a time now. The project is the ambitious project of the state government and is also termed the 'biggest' project of Kerala. The high-speed railway project has received a strong wave of disagreement from the state Opposition and Union ministers. 

In a recent attack, Union Minister V Muraleedharan, who hails from Kerala, said the rail project will be a disaster and will not help the state in any way. "The project will displace 30,000 families in Kerala," the Minister said. Muraleedharan said that the K-Rail Silver Line Project is unviable because the government of Kerala has not done any study on the project. He said that the project was unscientifically planned by the Pinarayi Vijayan government in Kerala and was an ecological disaster.

What is the SilverLine project?

The SilverLine project is an ambitious project of the Kerala government led by CM Pinarayi Vijayan to connect Kerala's north and south end with a high-speed train line. According to the Kerala government's claims, the trains that are currently running 45km/hour need an upgrade. CM Pinarayi Vijayan wishes to develop a train line between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargode, reducing the journey time to just 4 hours as the train will run " at a dream speed of 200 km/h." The government plans to build a railway line in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Railways. The state government, the total budget of the project will be ₹ 63,941 Cr.

"Out of 63941 Cr, 6085 Cr will come from the share of taxes of Central and State governments. 975 Cr is the share of land owned by Indian Railways. The remaining ₹ 56,881 Cr will be spent over 5 years. Funding agencies like ADB, AIIB etc. allow loans of up to 20 years repayment period, whereas those like JICA offer up to 40 years. The rate of interest of these agencies is also very low such as 0.2% for JICA and 1-1.5% for ADB and AIIB," according to the official website of K-Rail. 

The Semi-High speed train will be running between Thiruvanathapuram and Kasargode and will have 9 stations between them including the Cochin airport. The total length of the project is estimated to be 529.45 km, with a standard gauge of 1435 mm. The project commenced in 2018, and the government plans to complete the construction of the project in 5 years, from 2020 to 2025.

Protests in Kerala against the project

Protests are going on in the state against the SilverLine project raising environmental issues. The state-wide protest against SilverLine has been stepped up by Congress as well as the BJP. The Budget Session of the Kerala Assembly concluded on a stormy note last Friday as the opposition Congress-led UDF disrupted the proceedings and staged a boycott in the House alleging police "high-handedness" against people who protest against the state government's flagship SilverLine rail corridor project.

Meanwhile, Indian ecologist professor Madhav Gadgil commenting on the Semi High-speed rail project said that the project will affect the people evidently and indirectly. He said, “Poor people will have to suffer the consequences of all this. The voices of protest raised by people will not be in vain."

E Sreedharan, also known as 'metro man' in India, picking out small details in the project, said, "all along the sides of the proposed track, an eight-feet-high wall, which will cost Rs 8 crore for one kilometre, has to be constructed, and there has to be a mesh on its top, but this not mentioned in the DPR (Detailed Project Report)." He further pointed out that there is no mention of the flyovers and subways in the DPR.

There are certain land acquisition problems, too, as people whose lands are being acquired for the project are upset with the state government over price issues.

Land acquisition for SilverLine project

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan recently stated that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government will implement the SilverLine project and assured that the state government would pay four times the prevailing market prices as compensation for acquiring land. The CM was addressing a gathering on the occasion of inaugurating the CPIM Puthur local committee office.

He said, "The LDF government will implement the SilverLine project. There are attempts to mislead people.'' CM Vijayan added, "It is natural that people whose land is being acquired for the project will be disappointed. But I want to tell you that the government will pay four times the market price as compensation. We should not support such narrow-minded politics."

Image: PIXBAY/PTI