Thiruvandanpuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday (October 13) categorically ruled out the concerns raised by the opposition UDF against the proposed semi-high speed rail project, expressing that the over Rs 63,000 crore initiative is inevitable for the infrastructure development of the state and his government has a transparent approach in this regard.

The Congress-led opposition members strongly argued in the state Assembly that the mammoth project, named K-Rail project, would cause huge financial burden and severe environmental damage to the state and would not be beneficial for common men. Over 20,000 families have to be displaced for the project and the state has to find out a whopping amount of one lakh twenty-four thousand crore rupees for it's implementation, they further charged.

The chief Minster, in his elaborate reply, detailed various benefits of the semi high-speed rail project, proposed between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod districts, and said it would help reduce the congestion and accidents on the state and national highways. On the concerns of environmental destruction, he said the alignment was designed completely omitting the Western Ghats and similar ecologically sensitive areas. The UDF members later staged a walkout as Speaker M B Rajesh denied leave for the motion based on the CM's reply.

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