K-Rail will drag State into debt trap,Congress, CM denies

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the Silverline project will be implemented. Vijayan on Monday dismissed the arguments against the state's ambitious Silver Line railway project as "bewildering" and reiterated his pledge to see its completion.There are attempts to mislead people. The project is for the future of our children. he said.  The K-Rail SilverLine is an ambitious project of the state government that aims to cut the travel time between the north and south ends of the state to four hours from 10-12 hours. Critics, however, have said the project will displace thousands of families and it will also trigger environmental damage.

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said the project would turn the State into another Nandigram. The entire State would become a victim of the project. The figure of Rs 64,000 crore was false and misguiding. The actual cost of the project would be manifold high. He challenged the government for a debate on the project. The proposed semi-high-speed SilverLine rail project will push the entire State into a debt trap, he alleged. K Rail Silverline Viruddha Janakiya Samiti, a collective voicing concern over the high-speed rail corridor, has been saying that wetlands, paddy fields and hills face risk if the project continues. No serious study was done on the project.

BJP and the Congress, have been objecting too. Recently some BJP leaders including E Sreedharan, often called as 'Metro Man', met railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. After this, the minister had said the corridor is "not feasible in the present form. There are many technical and practical issues. And the government says it will be completed by 2025, going by my knowledge it is not possible."