Upping the ante against the proposed high speed rail corridor, K Rail, a collective of affected people and those opposing it — K Rail Silverline Viruddha Janakiya Samiti — will be carrying out a state-wide rally to drum up support against the ambitious project of the left front government.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan will flag off the rally in north Kerala’s Kasaragod on Tuesday and it will conclude on March 24 in front of the state secretariat, said the Samiti statement.
During the rally, the Samiti members will sensitize people “about dangers of the big ticket project and its impact on environment.” Street plays and other programmes associated with the rally will led by Samiti convener M P Baburaj, read the statement.
It said all political parties are invited to participate in the rally. “The government is trying to suppress agitation against the K Rail and it will turn into another Nandigram for the ruling party,” said Opposition leader V D Satheesan. (Protest against a car project in Nandigram led to large-scale violence in 2007-08 which finally led to the fall of the uninterrupted left rule in West Bengal).
As per the statement, the proposed project will displace more than 20,000 families in the densely- populated state and will also trigger severe environmental damage as it passes through wetland, paddy fields and hills. Opposition Congress and BJP are also opposing the project and recently many MPs from the state had met Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav requesting not to permit the project.
“No serious study was done on the project. Besides triggering innumerable environmental problems, many experts have also pointed out that it is not economically viable.The government should shed its adamant attitude and hear people,” said Samiti leader Baburaj.
He said though the ruling party said it will talk to the affected people and dispel their fears, however, it is going ahead with the project.
“This project will never materialise. It is time for the government to withdraw its dream without much ego,” said BJP state chief K Surendran. A BJP delegation from the state, including ‘Metro Man’ E Sreedharan had also called on the railway minister last month.
The government is expected to complete the ₹63,491 crore project by 2025 but experts said it will take minimum 10 years and the cost will be much higher than estimated. Besides the Opposition, many conservationists and activists are also opposing the project. Left-leaning organisation like Sastra Sahitya Parishad has also opposed the project and junior partner in the government CPI is also uncomfortable with the mounting protests.
The state government’s ambitious project is proposed to connect north Kerala’s Kasaragod and Thiruvananthapuram in south and reduce present travel time of 12 hours to four, said Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd, the nodal agency for the project. But many experts, including Sreedharan said high speed trains are not feasible to run on wetlands and its alignment was also flawed.
