Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited on Wednesday informed the Kerala High Court that the government had absolute authority to enter the property of landowners for demarcation of the notified land for the SilverLine project.
The submission was made in an affidavit filed by K-Rail in response to petitions challenging the survey of land for the project. The affidavit, filed by Deepa Joy, Joint General Manager, Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited, termed as incorrect the allegation of petitioners that government authorities were using force and there were grave human rights violations.
It said the social impact assessment (SIA) being undertaken now was a preliminary land acquisition activity and was not related to the DPR that was under examination by the railway board.
There were several instances where protesters had damaged survey equipment and uprooted the planted stones laid by the respondents in consonance with the provisions of the Kerala Survey and Boundaries Act and Rules. Therefore, police protection was sought for carrying out the work.
