Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 6 In a tit for tat reply on Thursday to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Metroman E. Sreedharan said the pet project of Vijayan K-Rail is not going to be a reality as it's not a project with any realism.
"What's going to happen in the K-Rail project is Vijayan will become isolated. Already many in CPI-M are not for this, while the CPI has already expressed their reservation. It's surprising to hear that this project will be completed in 5 years, while the fact of the matter is it won't be completed even in 15 years," said Sreedharan.
If completed, the project will see a 529.45 km corridor connecting Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod and a high speed train will run this distance in around four hours.
"See, the project might begin, but it will not be completed. If Vijayan is really serious in developing infrastructure, there are quite a handful of projects which Vijayan can take up which includes the Light Metro at Kozhikode and in the state capital city to name a few. Really do not know, why Vijayan is batting for the K-Rail, there could be some other interests," said Sreedharan.
While Sreedharan was speaking his mind out against the badly conceived K-Rail project, Vijayan was busy interacting with an invited audience at Kochi highlighting what this means and everything is in order and those who are opposing it have vested interests.
"This is a project which will be good for the environment and it will be ready in five years time. We are not going to be cowed down by any opposition as this project will change the face of Kerala. At least 50,000 indirect jobs and 11,000 direct jobs will be created," said Vijayan.
But slamming Vijayan, Sreedharan said this project is not going to get the concurrence of the Centre and since being a railway project, safety licenses also have to be received.
"Yes, the safety license from the Centre will be received if the CPI-M rules the Centre, otherwise it will not be given. Moreover even though the project cost is mentioned as Rs 64,000 crore, according to my estimate it will cost over Rs one lakh crore. And the company which says this will be completed in five years time, is yet to even complete one out of the 27 railway over bridges, it has been asked to build," said Sreedharan.
Sreedharan further said the funds of the project are also going to be a problem, as no company will extend funds to a project which destroys the environment.
"I have nothing against any project, but I will speak out if I find things are not going in the right way. I am ready to assist and extend my full support, but Vijayan will not call me. When they needed me in the past, they came to me. What will happen is the project might begin and soon it will hit a road block and Vijayan then will blame the officials to get away and that's going to happen," added Sreedharan.
Meanwhile the Congress and the BJP are now getting ready for another round of protests against Vijayan and the K-Rail project and all this is happening when massive protests are being reported against the K-Rail officials who are working on the alignment of the project, when they come to put the marking stones.
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