KERALA (Metro Rail News): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan made it clear on 8th December that his government’s ambitious Silver Line project has not been put on hold and that the Railway Ministry is still reviewing its Detailed Project Report (DPR), despite calls from the opposition Congress-led UDF for him to revoke its notification as soon as possible.
The semi-high-speed rail corridor is envisaged as a significant project to make a major leap in the southern state’s infrastructure development. He said its proposed contribution to the state’s economy, industrial environment, and social growth would not be small.
The Chief Minister was responding to an opposition Congress-UDF motion for an adjournment of the state Assembly due to the proposed project and residents’ concerns.
“The opposition legislator who moves the notice says that the project is frozen. Let me say at the onset itself that this is untrue. The DPR of the project has been submitted to the union government for approval and the information sought by the Ministry of Railways has been clarified,” he said.
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Referring to recent media stories concerning the apparent shelving of the project, he claimed that false information was being spread to create panic in the state and destroy the initiative before it ever gets off the ground.
“As the Silver Line is yet to receive clearance, it has been decided to temporarily redeploy revenue officials and staff to carry out the work related to the land acquisition procedures of other projects. It is misleading to use this (order) to propagate that the project has been shelved,” he said.
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