K-Rail: Kerala HC poses questions to both Centre, state govt

Kochi, April 7 The Kerala High Court on Thursday posed a few questions to the state and the centre on the now controversial K-Rail - the pet project of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Hearing a few petitions, the court asked the state government if proper notices have been given to people where the marking notices are being laid.

Another question that was asked to the Centre was if the permission to conduct a social impact study was given.

The third question was if there was any size of the marking stone that is being put and the last question was if the alignment of K-Rail passes through Puducherry - as Mahe, a small strip of land sandwiched between Kozhikode and Kannur district, comes under the Union Territory.

The court has posted the case for a later date and has asked the state and the Centre to file their replies.

The K-Rail project envisages a 529.45 km corridor connecting Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod with semi-high speed trains covering the distance in around four hours.

Both the Congress and the BJP are fiercely opposing this project, contending that it is not needed for Kerala given the massive cost, which, they say, will be in excess of Rs 1.50 lakh crore while it would be an environmental and economic disaster and would be a huge burden for the next generation.

The state has been witnessing massive protest ever since the K-Rail authorities started laying marking stones to conduct a social impact assessment study and at numerous places, clashes broke out between the protesters and police.

But since the beginning of this week, on account of the 23rd CPI-M Party Congress, the instructions had gone out to the K-Rail officials not to venture out to lay the marking stones, as Vijayan and the party did not wish to create a bad image when the party's premier meeting takes place.