@the_news_21
Thiruvananthapuram: Half a century after the Silent Valley movement set the template for the future environmental campaigns in India, a similar agitation is gaining tempo in Kerala against the proposed Semi-High Speed Rail project.
The 529.45 km long rail corridor stretching from Thiruvananthapuram to up north Kasaragod, to be built at a cost of over 63,490 crores, is touted as a flagship project by the LDF Government.
The project is named SilverLine, but clouds have begun to gather over it casting doubts whether it will ever come out and shine.
The project is to be developed and operated by Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd (KRDCL), a joint venture between the Kerala Government and the Ministry of Railways.
The project was envisaged when the first Pinarayi Vijayan Government was halfway through its term. KRDCL set up its office in the state capital, comprising mostly of officials deputed by the Railways, and began basic paper works in 2019. It got a project report done by a Paris-based consultancy. This was followed by some feasibility studies and environmental impact assessments before its pace got halted with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
At this stage, the project largely went un-debated, though KRDCL often went to town blaring that it was going to be a game-changer in the state’s stunted infrastructure development. Many then thought SilverLine would stay immobile on paper forever as the cash-strapped state would fail to raise funds for its implementation or get the environmental and financial clearances from the agencies concerned.
During the Assembly election campaign earlier this year, the LDF touted SilverLine as a mega infrastructure project to be implemented if voted to power.
The project gained further traction with the state Cabinet recently giving the go-ahead for the acquisition of land for its implementation. The Government also cleared a proposal to facilitate the initial expenses to the tune of Rs 1200 crore from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Board (KIIFB). While doing this, the state has blissfully ignored the Centre’s ambivalence on standing guarantee to the huge loans planned to be raised through multilateral agencies for the project.
The Government holds that SilverLine is an economically and ecologically sound project that seeks to address the current and future travel and freight movement requirements and fast-track the state’s economic growth. It will connect and make easily accessible the state’s economic and technological hubs, airports, seaports and tourist centres. It has sufficient inbuilt environmental safeguards. The arguments raised against the project are misplaced and driven by political interests and a myopic vision of resistance groups who come in the way of any big project.
Also Read: Mamata’s national ambition needs a little fine-tuning
The environmental groups have, however, rubbished the government’s position, dubbing the project as a social, economic and ecological disaster. The serious ill-effects of its implementation would not be limited to Kerala alone but spill over the entire southern peninsula. Much of the natural material for the project, the argument goes, will be sourced from the already fragile Western Ghats, pushing the biological hotspots to the verge of a complete collapse.
They also say it is a financially ill-conceived project that will push the state into a deep debt trap. The economic and social cost would be graver as it would lead to the large-scale displacement of people.
The resistance to the project has started assuming a national dimension. Several activists, including Medha Patkar and Prashant Bhushan, have come out strongly against the project.
The Congress-led UDF opposition has launched a grass root level campaign against it. The coalition leader Congress has seized on the issue to mobilise its demoralized ranks. However, embarrassing the party senior Congress MP Shashi Tharoor struck a dissenting note, saying blind opposition to all big projects would amount to doing a disservice to the state.
As the anti-SilverLine movement gathers momentum, dissenting voices have also started emanating from the Left camp. A section in the CPI has suggested a cautious approach and called to wait for the Detailed Project Report (DPR) on SiliverLine to come before taking a final stand. The pro-left science and cultural forum Kerala Sastra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP) has expressed misgivings about the project, though in an ambiguous and enfeebled tone.
The Silent Valley campaign in the early 1970s was a huge success as it stalled the implementation of a major hydroelectric power project that would have submerged large swathes of evergreen forests. Had the project been implemented, it would have caused irreversible damage to the biosphere.
