New Delhi: Railway Minister Ashwani Vaishnav has called a meeting to discuss the Silver Line project. The Railway Minister will discuss the issue with the UDF MPs on Wednesday at 3 pm. A total of 19 MPs had filed a petition seeking permission for the project. The petition was signed by Puducherry MP V Vaidyalingam along with UDF MPs in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. But Shashi Tharoor, who is of the view that more study is needed on the subject, has not signed.
The meeting was convened by the Railway Minister amid growing opposition to the Silver Line semi-high speed rail corridor. According to the petition filed by the MPs, the Rs 63,941 crore project from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod is putting the state in a debt trap. Experts, including E. Sreedharan, have opposed the plan. There are shortcomings in the alignment and a huge financial burden.
30,000 families will have to be evicted. Places of worship, educational institutions and hospitals will have to be demolished. Under the guise of foreign loans, huge financial irregularities are likely to take place. The state government has not sought environmental clearance for the project. The permission of the Finance Commission has not been obtained. The government is preparing to implement the project by subverting the rules. Therefore, the petition submitted to the Railway Minister says that the project should be stopped.
185 hectares of land owned by the Railways is to be acquired for the Silver Line. This will be considered as the share of railways in the project. The length of the route is 530 km. The proposed 220 km stretch from Tirur to Kasaragod is parallel to the existing railway line. The project will affect 9,314 buildings, including houses.
English Summary: Union Railway Minister calls a meeting of Kerala MPs
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