‘It can further deteriorate the ecological balance of the State’
Civil rights lawyer Prashant Bhushan has urged the State Government to abandon the SilverLine project which, he cautioned, can become a financial, environmental and social disaster.
The Vizhinjam international seaport project is bound to meet a similar fate, he said.
Claiming the semi high-speed rail project being spearheaded by K-Rail to be unscientific, Mr. Bhushan said the endeavour would further deteriorate ecological balance in a State that was already reeling under calamities, including landslips and floods.
Besides, the State exchequer could incur losses that far exceeded its estimate of ₹1 lakh crore, despite the Government claiming money-lending institutions such as Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to have offered interest-free loans.
“Since the Japanese Yen appreciates by at least 5% against Indian Rupee every year, this could effectively lead to the State paying a considerable interest. Such can could prompt high ticket rates thereby deter the public from utilising the rail service,” Mr. Bhushan said.
Moreover, the government had defied logic by conceiving the rail line as a standalone standard gauge network that cannot be integrated with the broad gauge of the Railways. The State should ideally consider upgrading the existing network of railway lines to facilitate high-speed services operated by the Railways, he said.
Advocating the need for greater environmental regulation, Mr. Bhushan accused the Centre of weakening such ecological norms in the country, including those laid down by the judiciary at various instances. Citing various examples, he alleged attempts made to permit the unbridled use of firecrackers in New Delhi that had been battling severe air pollution.
A founding member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), from which he was expelled, Mr. Bhushan lamented that the party had reduced itself into an “unprincipled C-grade outfit”.
“It has given up on the Lokpal (movement), transparency of funding and other objectives. Now, the party has lost its way through its populist policies. The promises made by (AAP national convener) Arvind Kejriwal for the Goa polls, including the one on free pilgrimages for people belonging to various faiths, are unconstitutional,” he said.
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