Silverline project is anti-development

I. six months after previously proposed in these pages that the Kerala government should review it Silverline Rail ProjectThe critical voices have only grown in strength. However, the chief minister has publicly confirmed his intention to go ahead with it, alleging that its opponents are against ‘development’. This response is no different from that of the Narendra Modi government when its economic policies are questioned, and which nurtures its own vanity project, a superfast train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. However, the stance is hardly credible.

worried voice

Ecologists, engineers, lawyers and activists are among those dissenting on the Silverline project. Madhav Gadgil, E. Sreedharan, Prashant Bhushan and Medha Patkar are perhaps the most famous of them, but there are also concerned citizens on the list, who all want the best for their country. It also includes the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, which is significant, as the body is now regarded as a fellow-traveller of the Left in power. More recently, Sri Sreedharan, perhaps India’s most famous railway engineer, has described the proposed project as an invitation to environmental disaster primarily through floods. He also expressed surprise that the government is yet to make the detailed project report public, a standard practice that brings transparency in large-scale public infrastructure projects. (Since then the Kerala government hastily uploaded a related document on a banned site), Professor Gadgil, India’s pre-eminent ecologist, has called Silverline against the interests of the people of the state, due to ecological damage. is on the basis. likely to be the reason. Based on his unmatched knowledge of Kerala’s topography, he explained both how this could happen and pointed to railway experience elsewhere in India, suggesting that the predictions are not mere speculation.

distant government

The Pinarayi Vijayan government’s response to the Silverline argument has been disappointing. By addressing the concern expressed by the citizens, a government shows itself to be distant and authoritarian. The dissatisfied, after all, have the same stakeholders in Kerala as anyone else, with the moral right to hear a case impacting the state’s ecological future. In a democracy, the government should be guided by public opinion rather than attempting to reach a consensus on its plans, as the current government of Kerala is doing. There are many instances in India when the state has changed its mind when public opinion is pitched against a grand project, but there is a different one. In the 1970s, Indira Gandhi, a charismatic and strong leader, responded to a long-running agitation against a hydroelectric project in Palakkad district by declaring that it would protect the threatened Silent Valley. It took a little longer to drop the project proposal altogether, but it was eventually done.

a high cost

While this threatens the ecological security that our scientists and engineers have flagged, there is also a concern that the Silverline project could end up as a white elephant. It’s always difficult to figure out how much people are willing to pay for a new publicly provided service, in the case of rapid transportation. Even if a survey is conducted, the veracity of the perceived willingness to pay will remain moot, undermining the credibility of the numbers in any project reports. Perhaps this is the reason why light rail projects have suffered losses in many parts of the world. Even if a break-even does occur, the rate of return may be lower than expected. This is often due to the increase in cost seen in such projects. One reason for this is that instead of raising costs, governments, which are steadfast to their high-visibility, technological marvels, somehow ensure that project costs are unreasonably low.

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In the case of Silverline, it has been indicated that the cost of supplementary infrastructure, such as underpasses, may not have been included, and they may be substantial. This is why independent external scrutiny of the Detailed Project Report is necessary. When high fees are at stake, the global accounting giant has proven to be an unreliable source of nostalgic advice in the past, but we are fortunate to have the highest-class financial expertise available in India. It is expected that advice is sought from this source, the Government of Kerala has in the past shown an astonishing reliance on international management consulting firms for advice. With a public sector that still receives budgetary support, a state with an already high per capita public debt may not be saddled with another white elephant. Nevertheless, financial viability cannot be taken as the sole criterion in investment planning. There is no universally accepted way to assign a monetary value to the environmental threat posed by a project with such a large geographic reach as the Silverline, as it would be over the entire length of the state. It is imperative that our judgment in this matter be implemented.

what does kerala need

When a proposed project is met with pushback, its advocates often respond to the challenge with “So, what’s the alternative?” In the present case, however, it will only raise a deeper question, which is whether Kerala needs another railway line. Since the two ends of the state are already connected by road and rail, a light rail built at an astronomical cost is hardly necessary, even if it promises to save some travel time. The state already has the highest road density in the country. It is strange that the government today looks at other railways as a priority for the state.

On the other hand, there are many projects worthy of public investment. Among them will be the transition to a stable electricity supply based on green energy, the provision of safe drinking water and urban sewerage, and the creation of infrastructure for the scientific disposal of waste. These projects will meet our most pressing needs today, provide high social benefits and prevent progressive environmental degradation in the state. Those are ‘options’.

Pulapre Balakrishnan teaches at Ashoka University. views expressed are personal