After meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed confidence that the Centre would expedite the necessary approvals for SilverLine, which he termed "Kerala's most important project".
Seemingly emboldened by Modi's response, the Chief Minister dismissed the widespread anti-SilverLine protests in Kerala saying it was not the people but a conspiracy of a "weird political coalition" that was behind the agitation. He was talking to reporters in Delhi.
To a poser whether terrorist elements were behind the agitation, Pinarayi replied in the affirmative. "All types of groups were part of the protests," he said with an all-knowing smile.
Though the protests against the project were intensifying, Pinarayi said with conviction that he had taken the people into confidence. "People are always with us. And we are concerned only with the people. The protesters you are talking about do not represent the people," the Chief Minister said.
Yet, Pinarayi refused to clarify certain aspects of the project, like land acquisition, fudged ridership figures and alignment. He chose to either ignore these questions or said they were technical issues that he was not in a position to answer.
Four pointed questions the Chief Minister was asked were: one, will the alignment of SilverLine change after the social impact assessment is completed; two, what is the extent of the buffer zone for the project; three, has Systra (the company that prepared the DPR) initiated an internal probe into allegations that DPR figures were exaggerated to make the project look viable; and four, was the Revenue Department causing trouble for even people whose lands were near but did not fall within the project area.
The first two questions he said were technical for him to answer. About the Systra internal probe he said he had no such information. The fourth he said were rumours cooked up by those against the project.
Nonetheless, Pinarayi made it clear that there would be no compensation for lands that fall in the buffer zone. "People are given money only when they part with their land. That's the usual practice. The lands in the buffer zone will still be in the possession of the owner," the Chief Minister said.
Though he spoke of full public support, he also said that people were being misled. Pinarayi said this had happened in the case of other development projects like the National Highway development, GAIL pipeline and the power highway from Kudankulam. "In all these cases people realised the truth and backed the government," he said, hinting the same would happen in the case of SilverLine, too.
Pinarayi also seemed to suggest that it was the Prime Minister's attitude towards the project that has augmented his determination. "The Prime Minister heard us with great interest," the Chief Minister said. "Generally, we had a good discussion. His responses were positive," he said. He said he even felt a bit uncomfortable about the amount of the Prime Minister's time he took. "You don't normally usurp so much of a Prime Minister's time," he said. Modi has also assured Pinarayi that he would put in a word with the Railway minister.
