Kerala chief minister V.D. Satheesan on Wednesday said that his government has decided to scrap the Silverline semi-high speed rail project, an ambitious initiative of the previous LDF administration under Pinarayi Vijayan.
Satheesan said at a news conference that the notifications regarding land acquisition for the project will be revoked.
Besides that, the government will also recommend withdrawing criminal cases lodged against those who opposed the Silverline project, subject to the court's decision, the CM said after a Cabinet meeting he chaired.
"The Cabinet has decided to scrap the Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod semi-high speed rail corridor project called Silverline," Satheesan said.
The Left government's 530-km Silverline project, planned by K-Rail -- a joint venture between the Kerala government and the ministry of railways -- was expected to reduce travel time between the two districts at the two ends of the state to four hours.
Extensive protests against the project were held across the state, led by the Congress. Agitators uprooted and threw away many yellow markers associated with the project.
The CM said the decision was taken because the project was abandoned and no transactions could be carried out regarding the lands notified for acquisition, which affected common people.
As the state abandoned the project, even the central government did not give approval for it.
Satheesan said all advertisements issued in connection with the acquisition of land for the project will be denotified. With regard to cases pending in various courts and police stations concerning the protests against the project, the home department will examine them and recommend withdrawal based on their nature, Satheesan said.
"The court will have to give permission to withdraw them," he added.
He further said that the revenue department has been instructed to remove the yellow concrete markers set up at various places as part of the land acquisition process for the project.
Satheesan said that the UDF was not against a high-speed rail corridor as long as it did not affect Kerala financially or environmentally.
"We had opposed the Silverline as it did not even have a proper Detailed Project Report (DPR). Had it been implemented, it would have been an environmental disaster, as 30-foot-high embankments were planned for 300 km and 10-foot-high walls for another 200 km of the rail corridor," he said.
"During monsoons, it would have turned into an environmental disaster. It was not a sustainable project," he contended.
He said that the UDF came to the conclusion that the project was unviable after discussions with experts.
The CM said that the LDF government only had to issue an order to denotify it, but it was not done despite abandoning the project.
In 2022, former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had suggested that the Centre was having second thoughts about the Left government's K-rail project as it had received a lot of flak from the Opposition parties in the state.
The project had faced criticism from the Opposition Congress and BJP and environment activist Medha Patkar, among others.
A large-scale project like the K-rail Silver Line project needed Centre's permission.
“In certain cases we can proceed even if they (Opposition) oppose. But the central government’s permission is required for projects like the Silver Line. We cannot implement it without the Centre’s clearance,” the former chief minister had said.
Kerala had witnessed massive protests against the railway line. The Centre was in favour of it initially but had second thoughts when Opposition parties, including the BJP had come out against the project.
“Both the UDF and the BJP are opposed to development projects, assuming they would work against their interests and favour the LDF in some way. So they are working to sabotage development projects,” Vijayan had said.
Responding to the controversy triggered by the full rendition of the national song during the oath-taking ceremony, chief minister Satheesan said the incoming government had not been informed in advance that the complete version would be sung.
"We did not know that Vande Mataram would be rendered in full. The instructions came from Lok Bhavan. We realised it only when it began being sung in its entirety while we were standing there. It was not possible to interrupt it midway," the CM told reporters.