The first ever debate on the SilverLine project has run into rough weather. A day ago, one of the original panelists, Joseph C Mathew, was removed. On Tuesday, Alok Kumar Verma, the former Indian Railway Service officer who was the lead consultant for the preliminary feasibility study of the project, has expressed his unwillingness to participate if certain conditions were not met.
Verma had requested a quick reply as the debate was scheduled for April 29 and he had to make arrangements for his travel from Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram. The Chief Secretary has not responded to Verma's letter and it looks like the former Systra consultant, whose criticism of the DPR fuelled the anti-SilverLine agitation, will not be part of the debate.
Sridhar Radhakrishnan, who was chosen to replace Joseph C Mathew, has also pulled out of the debate. He has informed his decision to the K-Rail. Sridhar, in his missive to K-Rail, has cited the lack of response from the Chief Secretary to Verma's letter as one of the reasons.
Environmental scientist R V G Menon is the lone surviving opposing panelist in the debate. He had exhorted both Verma and Sridhar to participate as he felt that any opportunity, however insignificant, to articulate the concerns about the project should not be missed.
At this point, it is not clear whether the K-Rail will find two new opposing panelists or persuade Verma and Sridhar not to back out.
Alok Verma had serious issues with the wording of the invitation letter sent to him by Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd (K-Rail). "The invitation says that the objective of this panel discussion is 'voicing the views of experts in the field to inform and educate the people of Kerala about the SilverLine, a semi high-speed rail project that will pave the way for a major leap in the multifaceted development of the state.' This raises the concern that the organisers might not be serious about listening to the concerns of the experts who are opposing the current plan for SilverLine," Verma said in his missive to the Chief Secretary.
In short, he fears that K-Rail wants to convert the debate into a PR exercise for SilverLine.
Verma has a problem with the organisers of the event and also the new moderator. "The earlier communication said that this panel discussion is being organised on the instructions of the Chief Secretary to the government of Kerala and that the principal secretary, Science and Technology, will act as the moderator. But, the formal invitation does not say that this invitation is being extended on behalf of the chief secretary to the government of Kerala, and it says that a retired officer of the Personnel (HR) Department of Indian Railway has replaced the principal secretary (Science and Technology) acting as the moderator," he said.
Science and Technology principal secretary K P Sudheer, who was originally chosen as the moderator, has been replaced with Mohan A Menon, the head of National Railway Academy, the retired officer Verma referred to.
Verma wanted the State Government to rework the primary objective of the debate. The state government is requested to make the following changes. "The objective of holding this discussion should be to enable the public and the decision-makers in the government of Kerala and the Ministry of Railways to know the grounds on which the experts have opposed the plan for SilverLine as incorporated in the DPR prepared by the general consultant Systra," he said.
Verma also wanted the letter of invitation to come from the Chief Secretary, and not from the MD of K-Rail.
Sridhar also spoke of the "one-sided" nature of the debate and also of his view that the "government has clearly dissociated from the panel discussion. "It has neither taken the ownership of the programme as an organiser nor as a moderator, as earlier agreed. I had asked this from you for clarification and there was no satisfactory reply," Sridhar said.
He said that it was the State Government that should have listened to their arguments and submissions and not the KRDCL alone.
