K-Rail will go ahead, says Vijayan as Oppn looks to intensify stir

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said the K-Rail project will go ahead as planned and initial works are progressing well, quashing opposition protests against the proposed high-speed rail corridor.

“We will not yield to unnecessary controversies and pressures. If we abandon the project, it will wreck the developmental aspirations of the state. K-Rail is a game-changer, and it will lift the face of the state,” Vijayan said in Kozhikode, adding that the government would not bow down before those who are blindly opposing the project.

The CM said the Union government initially favoured the project but has now developed cold feet after the state unit of the party opposed it for some political reasons. “Those who oppose the project will have to understand that they are torpedoing an ambitious development project of the state,” he said. “Initially the centre encouraged the project but now its interest waned reasons best known to it,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd, the nodal agency for the project, said it laid stones in the 140-km stretch of the project, and the relief package will be taken up once the social and economic impact studies were completed.

“We are busy with our schedule and we regularly conduct awareness sessions also to dispel fears,” said K Rail MD V Ajith Kumar.

Angry people had uprooted stones at many places throughout the state, but the agency said it wouldn’t affect the ongoing work.

The Opposition Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said they will intensify their agitation against the project.

Congress state president K Sudhakaran will begin the state-wide protest on Tuesday, and the BJP also announced similar action in all district headquarters.

The Congress has also decided to distribute pamphlets in a house-to-house campaign, pointing out dangers and threats behind the project. “The government can’t turn a blind eye towards mounting protests of the people,” said Sudhakaran.

“The railway ministry has already made it clear that the project is not feasible and K Rail lines can’t run parallel to the existing railway line. It is a drama, we have no idea why the government is going ahead with the project which will spell doom for the state,” said BJP state chief K Surendran.

The Kerala government plans to connect north Kerala’s Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram in the south and reduce the present travel time of 12 hours to four, said Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd. But many experts, including Metro Man E Sreedharan, said high-speed trains are not feasible to operate on wetlands, and its rail alignment was also flawed.

The government is expected to complete the ₹63,491 crore project by 2025, but experts said it would take a minimum of 10 years, and the cost may go up at least three times. Besides the Opposition, many conservationists and activists are also opposing the project. A left-leaning organisation like Sastra Sahitya Parishad also opposed the project while a junior partner in the government, the Communist Party of India (CPI) expressed concern over the growing resentment against the government’s project.