Neither govt, nor railways asked Kerala to lay stones for survey of rail corridor: Centre to Kerala HC

In the affidavit, submitted by Assistant Solicitor General of India S Manu, the Railway Board said the in-principle approval, granted to the project by the Railways, was only meant for taking up pre-investment activities. Consideration of the project will depend upon techno-economic viability of the project. The project is not yet sanctioned.

“Granting of IPA only means presentation of DPR etc which brings out the complete details of the project, including financials. No financial approval has been granted to the rail corridor project as per the Ministry of Finance’s guidelines. Scrutiny at various levels and stages is required after the clarifications regarding DPR are submitted,” said the affidavit.

It added that the Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL), the agency for implementing the project, has submitted a Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the Semi High Speed Rail Project to the Ministry of Railways for approval.

Sufficient details for technical feasibility are not available in the DPR, therefore, “KRDCL has been advised to provide detailed technical documents such as alignment plan, particulars of railway land and private land, crossings over existing railway network, duly depicting affected railway assets through the Zonal Railway after site verification for detailed examination of the project and to arrive at conclusion about feasibility of project. Financial viability will be examined and firmed up thereafter. Consideration of the project will depend upon techno-economic viability of the project. The project is not yet sanctioned,” the affidavit said.

KRDCL is a joint venture of the Kerala government and the Ministry of Railways. The petitioners wanted the High Court to declare the notifications issued by the state government to conduct social impact assessment survey illegal, without jurisdiction arbitrary, violative of Articles 14, 21 and 300A of the Constitution of India.

The survey had faced stiff opposition across Kerala. The government has suspended the survey considering the by-election in the Thrikkakara Assembly seat. Voting was over on May 31 and the result will be out on June 3.