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K-Rail will go ahead, Vijayan says in assembly after debate
While the Opposition raised issues like cost, environmental impact, social impact study, mass displacement and other details, the government relied merely on developmental rhetoric to reply to the opposition. Later, replying to criticism, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the government will go ahead with the project come what may.
The Kerala assembly on Monday witnessed a three-hour intense discussion on the proposed high-speed K-Rail project, with the state government insisting that it will go ahead with the plan.
The government agreed to a discussion on an adjournment motion in the House, after which Speaker M B Rajesh allotted two hours for it.
While the Opposition raised issues like cost, environmental impact, social impact study, mass displacement and other details, the government relied merely on developmental rhetoric to reply to the opposition. Later, replying to criticism, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the government will go ahead with the project come what may.
“Some people say the project will partition the state and destroy the fragile ecology of parts of the Western Ghats. But the fact is it is not passing through either forest land or the Ghat area. Look, development projects cannot be postponed citing resource crunch. We are firm it should be implemented,” he said, asking the opposition members not to spread misinformation and join the government in the larger interest of the state.
He further said the project was the need of the hour, and it would change the face of the state. “We will compensate all who lose their land and houses. Our compensation package will be the best in the country. It is fact we need land for such a megaproject. Some are provoking people, and the government will not be browbeaten like this,” he said.
However, the Opposition insisted that the project would be an ecological and economic disaster if implemented.
“The government says it is ready for discussion, but brute force is applied on people who are set to lose their dwellings and land. It is only a monologue. It has no idea about environmental impact or cost escalation. K-Rail will be a disaster for the state,” said Opposition leader and Congress leaderVD Satheesan, urging the chief minister to answer questions specifically rather than giving general replies and not touching upon key issues. Opposition members then stormed out of the House.
The government’s ambitious project ran into trouble after main opposition parties Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress, and green activists opposed it vehemently. The ₹63,940 crore project is aimed at developing a high-speed rail corridor connecting Kasaragod in the state’s north to Thiruvananthapuram in the south. The state needs 1,383 hectares of land for the proposed project, which could displace around 20,000 families, according to government data.
The high-speed rail line will bring down the travel time between Kasaragod and Thiruvananthapuram from 12 hours to four hours, covering 529.45 km. The project is expected to be completed by 2025 but is yet to get approval from the Union government. No social and environmental impact studies have been conducted so far.
Besides Opposition, many green activists also opposed the big-budget project, saying that it would be a disaster for the state.
They said the government conceived the idea when climate experts and others warned the state will face recurring calamities due to climate change, they said.
The Congress and BJP have announced agitational programmes against the project, and hundreds of people are courting arrest daily for disrupting stone-laying work.
