Following a lull, the Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd (K-Rail) is prepared to pick up the survey for the SilverLine project, a semi-high-speed train. Two months after the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) processes, which were met with strong objections, were halted, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has given the go-ahead to resume the study.
Two weeks after receiving the pertinent file, the decision was made to move forward with the project’s foundational work.
Initially, protests and judicial interventions hampered the ambitious project’s progress, so the Revenue department saw the need for a political choice and forwarded the file, requesting the chief minister’s approval. The government decided not to move too quickly and waited till the Onam celebrations were ended. The chief minister sought advice. Before choosing to impose the censure, the chief minister also held discussions with the party.
The draught notification has already been given to the Law department by the Revenue department. The Ministry of Law and Justice just needs to fulfil the formality of reading the document because the Advocate General (AG), who earlier provided legal opinion in support of resuming the social impact research, has already done so.
The fresh notification is anticipated to be released by the end of the next week, opening the door for the survey to resume as part of the social impact study. In the hopes of reducing protests from the part of local residents, the government has decided to go with geotagging rather than laying survey stones.
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