Kerala: Half of stone laying completed in K-Rail Silver Line project, says District Collector

Amid the raging row over the Silver Line semi-high speed rail corridor project of Kerala Rail Development Corporation (K-Rail), the Ernakulam District Collector on Monday said that more than half of the stone laying for the project has been completed.

Jafar Malik, the District Collector of Ernakulam said "Almost 53-54 per cent stone laying for Kerala Government's proposed SilverLine semi-high-speed rail project in the Ernakulam district has been completed. In 9 out of the 17 villages, stone laying has been done. The rest of the work could not be carried out due to some conflicts. We did not start the social impact study. The opposition to the project has increased but we don't want to comment on it as we do not want any kind of encounter. We are now moving forward to protect the survey team. They are being given the police protection they need."

Locals have been protesting against the K-Rail Silver line project in the Kottayam district of the state. Locals in Ernakulam, Kottayam, and Kozhikode districts have been protesting against the Kerala government's proposed SilverLine semi high-speed rail project saying the project will create "ecological issues" in the state.

Earlier, Union Minister of State V Muraleedharan told ANI, "Central government hasn't approved the project. It'll create ecological issues and render many homeless. If state government goes ahead, BJP will mobilise people and thwart such efforts."

The 529.45-km long SilverLine corridor, which will connect Kasaragod and Thiruvananthapuram at a speed of 200 km per hour had received in-principle approval from the Central government in December 2019. The corridor promises to reduce the total travel to less than four hours against the current 10 to 12 hours.

The project is planned to be commissioned in five years at an estimated cost of Rs 63, 941 crores.

( With inputs from ANI )

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