K-Rail project is nothing but a real estate business deal, environmental activist Sreedhar Radhakrishnan has said. Addressing an anti-K-Rail meeting organised by the K-Rail Silverline Viruddha Janakeeya Samithy at the Kerala Sahitya Akademi hall on Thursday, Mr. Radhakrishnan said it was a project to get foreign loans worth crores.
“From where they will procure the 75 lakh loads of granite stones needed for the construction of K-Rail project,” he asked, citing the possible environmental disasters that the project will cause. You can’t separate development and environment. Such development will affect the survival of our coming generations, he said. Mr. Radhakrishnan alleged that the government was lying about the K-Rail project.
“The government, which was trying to lay survey stones forcefully in the first stage, now says it will conduct the survey without planting stones. It is a political gimmick to hoodwink people ahead of the election,” he added. The meeting asked the government to withdraw the project that is unnecessary and destructive.
The huge bund to be built across the length of the State as part of the project will lead to heavy floods. The procurement of huge volumes of granite stones for the project will ring a death knell for the Western Ghats, speakers at the meeting alleged. More than 1 lakh people will lose their land and houses for the project, they pointed out.
The detail project report claims 80,000 passengers will use the K-Rail everyday, which is five times costlier than the ordinary trains. The government has not even conducted a basic study for the project. The protest will continue until the project is shelved, the K-Rail Viruddha Samithy said.
Writers, human rights and environmental activists including P.V. Krishnan Nair, Rafeeq Ahmed, Kusumam Joseph and others participated in the meeting.
