Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd (K-Rail) will not participate in the 'alternative debate' organised by Janakeeya Pratirodha Samithi, the opponents of the SilverLine semi high speed project. "The organisers have not been able to prove that the discussion would be held in a transparent and fair manner," the K-Rail said in a Facebook post.
The 'alternative debate' will be held in Thiruvananthapuram on May 4, and it will include IT expert Joseph C Mathew, who was dropped from the official debate held on April 28, and also former Indian Railway Service officer Alok Kumar Verma and environmentalist Sridhar Radhakrishnan who boycotted the official debate.
The K-Rail said in its official page that the two panelists had backed out on their own for "flimsy reasons". However, it did not explain why Joseph C Mathew was dropped after being officially invited. 'Since the April 28 debate was a success, what we need is not alternative debates but continuous debates," the K-Rail said.
However, organisers of the 'alternative debate' suspect that the K-Rail was running away from uncomfortable questions. There are serious doubts regarding the performance of the France-based consultancy firm Systra, which did the DPR of SilverLine.
Sridhar Radhakrishnan said that in 2018, the K-Rail had entered into an agreement with Systra for conducting the feasibility study and policy blueprint of eight projects. The study was supposed to be completed in 36 months. Except for SilverLine, Sridhar said Systra had not worked on any other project.
Besides SilverLine, here are the other seven projects Systra was asked to work on. One, Thalassery-Mysore new broad gauge line. Two, Rapid Rail Transit system, 125.56 km. Three, Erumeli-Punalur new broad gauge line, 65 km. Four, Ettumanoor-Pala Sabari link line, 15 km. Five, broad gauge line to Vizhinjam International Seaport, 12 km. Six, triangular line, railway station and container terminal at Cochin International Airport Ltd, 10 km. Seven, redevelopment of abandoned old Ernakulam railway station near High Court as a major city hub.
"How can an agency that had ignored most of the work contracted to them complete the SilverLine in five years," Sridhar asked.
Questions have also been raised about the company, Anandraj Infratech, that did the sample geotechnical survey for the project. The company's study was found inadequate. It is said that techniques like seismic refraction/reflection, ground penetrating radar (GPR), and Airborne Electromagnetic Mapping (AEM) were not used to get a profile of underground conditions over continuous stretches, such as at the important tunnels, cuttings, embankments and viaducts. Moreover, it is said that the company's report did not contain geotechnical risk assessment as data of only some isolated locations, and not continuous, were provided.
Though conservation experts like Chillayil Jayaraman had repeatedly sought answers from K-Rail, Systra and Anandraj Infratech, there was no response except to say that they could not divulge such information. Even during the official debate on April 28, K-Rail officials refrained from answering even questions directed at them.
