Kochi: The development perspective of a government when climate change is a concern should be based on the principles of sustainability, Leader of the Opposition in Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, said in Kochi on Saturday.
Satheesan said the Kerala government's proposed SilverLine semi high-speed rail project is based on a half-a-century-old development perspective.
“The Left government is claiming it is walking ahead of time with the SilverLine project. The real question here is what should be the development perspective in the time of climate change: it should be sustainable development without damaging the environment. It is we, who say we don't want such a project, are actually walking ahead of time,” Satheesan said, inaugurating a seminar at the Ernakulam District Congress Committee (DCC) office.
The event, titled Plebiscite, was organised as the first programme of the recently inaugurated Sabarmathi Research and Study Centre at the DCC office. It turned out to be an interactive platform for those helming the anti-SilverLine protests and the audience, mostly Congress activists.
Dr Sridhar Radhakrishnan, environmental scientist, spoke at length about the violations the mega project is likely to cause and the anomalies in the documents relating to the project.
Dr C Jayaraman, behavioural energy expert, spoke about the alleged data fudging done by the agencies which prepared the feasibility report and detailed project report for the SilverLine.
Environmental activist C R Neelakandan and journalist M Suchithra were the other panellists. Dr M C Dileepkumar moderated the discussion. DCC president Mohammed Shiyas, Dr T S Joy and Shaiju Kelanthara also spoke.
