Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan said on Wednesday that a government-appointed expert panel had found the high-speed rail proposal prepared by DMRC to be incomplete and recommended that it should not proceed in its present form.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) proposal was prepared under the guidance of Metroman E Sreedharan.
Satheesan said the proposal was incomplete as it did not contain a social or environmental impact assessment, lacked a sound economic model, made no mention of logistics movement, and had not undergone viability or feasibility studies.
The expert panel, which submitted its report to the government earlier on Wednesday, has recommended that the project could not be implemented in its present form and recommended that no steps be taken towards land demarcation or acquisition at this stage, Satheesan told reporters after a Cabinet meeting.
He said the panel had also cautioned against repeating the mistakes made by the previous Left rule during the proposed K-Rail project, where land acquisition was initiated before key studies were completed.
He said that the project proposal only talks of passenger movement and there is no mention of the transportation of goods.
"Without a logistics component in it, we will face problems in repaying the money we borrow for the project. So, the government will have to carry out a study regarding the logistics aspect," he said.
Satheesan further said that according to the panel, the proposal has no mention of land availability or inter-connectivity with other modes of transport like metro, inland waterways, and does not mention the number of passengers expected to travel on it.
Only after examining its viability and feasibility should the government go for a detailed project report (DPR), the committee has recommended, according to him.
"So, the government will have to examine various factors inlcuding social and environment impact of the project, the logistics movement, etc before calling for a DPR. There will be no land acquisition or demarcation for the project before the DPR is prepared," the CM said.
The government will examine all the recommendations of the expert panel and take a decision, he added.
He said that the government needs to ensure that the project does not turn into something like the previous Left administration's proposed semi-high speed rail corridor, Silverline, which was vehemently opposed by the Congress-led UDF due to its possible alleged adverse impact on the environment and various other reasons.
The Silverline project aimed to reduce the travel time from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod, the two ends of the state, from the current over seven hours to around four hours.
