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Make stand clear on K Rail, HC tells Centre
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala high court on Wednesday directed the Union government to make its position clear on the high- speed rail project, K Rail, and stayed the process of laying boundary stones of the project in violation of the Survey and Boundaries Act ahead of the social impact study
Thiruvananthapuram:
The Kerala high court on Wednesday directed the Union government to make its position clear on the high- speed rail project, K Rail, and stayed the process of laying boundary stones of the project in violation of the Survey and Boundaries Act ahead of the social impact study.
While hearing a bunch of pleas, Justice Devan Ramachandran said though the state government contended that there was an in-principle approval, there was no clarity on the Centre’s position. The court also observed that it was improper for one counsel to appear for both the Union Government and railway ministry.
“This is perhaps the biggest project Kerala has undertaken so far. Such a project should not be implemented intimidating and threatening people. All these pleas are being filed because of the haste to implement the project. The law cannot be violated in its attempt to execute the scheme,” the court said.
It directed the Centre to explain its position during the next hearing on January 21 and asked the K Rail not to lay boundary stones of the project. Earlier in north Kerala protesting people have uprooted many boundary stones. CPI(M) Kannur district secretary M V Jayarajan had threatened people who uproot survey stones saying “they will have to keep their tooth intact.”
Meanwhile, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in an article in ‘Chintha weekly, a party-run publication, claimed that the Centre and railway ministry have given approval for the project and the government will go ahead with it. The government has also decided to print 50 lakh small booklets to be distributed among people to clear all doubts and apprehensions about the project.
The government’s ambitious high speed rail project ran into trouble after main opposition parties and green activists opposed it vehemently. The ₹63,940 crore project seeks to develop 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, of which 1,383 hectares are private.
The rail line will bring down the travel time between Kasaragod and Thiruvananthapuram, covering 529.45 km, from 12 hours to four hours. It will be completed by 2025, said Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd (KRDCL), the nodal agency for the project. But the union government is yet to approve the project and no social and environment impact studies were held so far.
Besides opposition many green activists also opposed the big budget project saying it will be a disaster for the state. They said government conceived the idea when climate experts and others warned it will face recurring calamities due to climate change, they said. Last week noted social activist Medha Patakar joined the protest against the project. “Never expected a left government will come out with such a project which will threw lakhs of people out of their homes and damage environment. The CM should shed its adamant posture and talk to protestors,” she said Kozhikode on Monday. The Congress and BJP have announced agitational programmes against the project.
