Kochi: Taking yet another step in its protest against the Kerala government's ambitious SilverLine (K-Rail) project, Congress-led opposition, United Democratic Front (UDF), has released a pamphlet detailing its stance on the proposed semi high-speed rail corridor.
The pamphlet, comprising UDF's questions to the government and explainers on the unscientific manner in which the project has been designed, was released at a meeting of the front's allies in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. The opposition parties will conduct a door-to-door campaign with the write-up to sensitise the people about the problems with the project.
The UDF has decided to open permanent protest venues against the SilverLine project in Kollam, Kottayam, Kozhikode and Kannur. The front will also organise 100 people's meets this month alone by bringing together people who would lose their land to the project and other collectives opposing K-Rail.
Discussions will be held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode with people from various walks of life.
The UDF is intensifying its protest even as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has launched an aggressive public outreach programme seeking people's support for the project.
The UDF's main charge is that the project has been designed without considering Kerala's geographical specialities and without conducting proper social and environmental impact assessments.
According to Niti Ayog's estimates in 2018, the project would cost Rs 1.33 lakh crore. It would also need 1,383 hectares of land. The environmental impact assessment for the project was done by an unauthorised institute called the Centre for Environment and Development. The government has invited tender for a new study, spending Rs 96 lakh, as the first one was not effective, the pamphlet reads.
The UDF in its pamphlet cites environmental activists' assessment that at least 20,000 families will have to be evicted, 50,000 commercial establishments destroyed and 145 hectares of paddy fields filled for the project. The project would need 1,000 overbridges or underpasses.
"As much as 292 km of the rail corridor(55% of total distance) will be constructed as a high wall which is 15 to 30 feet tall. In the remaining portion, safety walls will have to be erected on either side of the rail. A government-appointed agency itself has found that the project, if implemented, is likely to cause landslides, floods and earthquakes and that the lad usage on either side of the line will change. No more study is needed to find that wherever the natural flow of water is disrupted it would cause floods in low lands and landslides in high lands," the pamphlet states.
The documents say the government's argument that the project would not harm the Western Ghats as it does not pass through the mountain ranges was hollow. "Where will you find the rocks and soil for the project if not from the Western Ghats," it asks.
The UDF alleges there was something suspicious behind the hasty land acquisition for a project which has not yet got the final nod from the central government or the Railway Ministry.
"We should realise that Kerala is in the danger zone especially in the wake of the recent Inter government Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. In a state which could be flooded if it rains incessantly for one hour, serious studies have to be conducted before implementing such mega projects."
The UDF document explains the economic liabilities the project is likely to cause also. "The government expects 79,934 passengers to use the rail service daily. This estimate is not based on any study. It is a matter of curiosity that the number is double the passengers expected to use the Mumbai-Ahmedabad rail corridor which is being constructed."
The documents also list the anti-people clauses in the detailed project report which states that the development of some roads and railway infrastructure would cause a dip in SilverLine's expected footfall. The remedy it suggests is to impose a toll on national and state highways so that people would be forced to shift to SilverLine.
"According to the DPR, roads including national highways should not be developed if passengers should opt for SilverLine. Toll, as well as bus/tarin fares, have to be hiked. Roads should not be renovated. This is an anti-people government that tries to make the SilverLine project a success by imposing additional expenses on the common man," the UDF document says.
The document goes on to invoke the concerns raised by Alok Varma, the rail expert who was involved in the preliminary feasibility study for the project, ruling ally CPI and Sasthra Sahithya Parishad, a Left-backed science and cultural outfit. It also calls out the CPM's double standards in questioning the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet train project even as campaigning aggressively for K-Rail.
The UDF proposes alternatives like laying new railway lines, modernising signalling systems, and establishing new railways stations to address the travel concerns of the state.
