K-Rail project: Kerala CM to meet PM Modi on Thursday

Thiruvananthapuram, March 23 (IANS) Unfazed by the growing opposition to his government's ambitious K-Rail project, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will, on Thursday, call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital to get preliminary approval for the project.For the past more than a week, the state has been witnessing massive protests when K-Rail officials were moving around trying to lay the marking stones to conduct a social impact study and wherever it was laid, the protesters have pulled it out and thrown it away.Against the backdrop of such protests, Vijayan will call on Modi and seek his nod for the project. Apparently, the senior K-Rail officials who are in Delhi, have already met the Railway Board officials ahead of PM-Vijayan meet.If completed, it will see a 529.45 km corridor connecting Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod with high speed trains covering the distance in around four hours.As per NITI Aayog, it might cost Rs 1.24 lakh crore when it nears completion in 2025, while the detailed project report on this published by the Pinarayi Vijayan government says it will cost Rs 63,940 crore K-Rail project.Last week, the Lok Sabha witnessed a chaos when the entire Congress-led UDF MPs from Kerala strongly opposed the K-Rail project and the lone CPI-M MP defending it.A delegation of the state BJP leaders led by Metroman E.Sreedharan had called on all those who matter in Delhi recently and said that at no cost should permission be granted as it is not "feasible".
--IANS sg/shb/

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