High Speed Rail Corridor Kerala Protest : October 2012

Dear All,

The HRSC survey is being carried out, from TVM to Kasargode by Delhi Metro Rail Company. It is very common and natural to think, why people object projects such as these, which are very much for the development of the country. When thoughts of these kinds emerge, we will have to also think, what the benefits by these projects are? We should ask ourselves, if these are useful to the common public or do these harm the interest of the citizen at large. When we bring developmental projects in a democratic scenario, we will have to consider three main points . Firstly , Is there any adverse social impact that may arise from this project. Secondly, Is the project financially feasible and profitable Finally , Will this project face any environmental setbacks or what are the other effects on the environment by this project.

The first doubt is, if there are any adverse social impacts … let us analyze this :

Our CM has informed through various newspapers that only 20 mtrs of land will be used to construct the HSRC . But in certain places, they have marked by laying survey stones in more than 110 meters of land in width that has to be acquired. Apart from this , in a meeting called by the District Collector on 4^th August 2012 , he has informed the local representatives that the rail will be built anywhere within 2 KM radius from the already marked spots. This information he passed as received from DMRC.

In another meeting held under the Thrisur District collector, the DMRC has categorically informed that 150 Meters of land would be surveyed but only 20 meters will be used to construct the railway line. If it is only 20 meters that they wish to construct , why survey 150 meters. Why there was a survey even though CM had announced this is dropped temporarily. Why the DMRC comes like thieves to do the survey without using the proper channels. Why do they confuse the common man on the street by differing opinions and information? What is the motive behind such actions…..In the British period we were divided and ruled.. but now they rule and divide. If CM has asked DMRC to stop the survey who would be that Super CM that ordered the survey to go on? Can we ever believe, that in order to construct 13 meters high speed railway line , only 20 meters land would suffice? What about the logistics, what about the supply channels and once they mark the land to the tune of 150 meters what would be the surplus land after the construction…They informed that only 4500 families would be affected, but , this became a cruel joke on the people as more than 50000 houses have to be demolished and more than 200000 people will be on the road. This could be, one of the biggest evacuations ever in India. They have even marked places of worships/ convents / schools and this shows the appalling nature of this project which they want to execute stealthily. Is this project beneficial for the majority? This is not the problem of the people who are directly affected by this project, but , also of the common people who live in this state and the government just accelerates that gap by their massive projects of this kind which is never beneficial to the rest of the 90-95% of people. This will only help to create a gap of certain privileged few , from the average man.

The second point we should analyze is , if the project is feasible and profitable or is it viable ?

How many such people are there who wants to reach from Mangalore to Trivandrum with in three hours. If we take the ticket charges into consideration, which is more than 4500 from Trissur to Trivandrum ,one way , will suggest how many can afford this. The realistic travel can happen only with government subsidies. This will again make a hole in the common mans pocket as the subsidies will be provided with our tax money for a few. Why do we need such fast track with least minimum utility and just for a minority who can afford flights than HSR and faster too. We doubt hidden agendas in this project and surely that will emerge in the time to come, but we shall be already late by then. Even though the budgeted project is 1.50 lakh crore as per 2009 calculations, would go up to unthinkable limits , taking a construction period of 7-12 years. How can a state like Kerala where a new baby is born into a per head debt of Rs.26000.00 afford to take such huge financial burden. It would be worthy to note that the total budget of 12^th five year plan is only 1.05 lakh crore and HSRC project alone comes to 1.50 lakh crores. If at all we take their projection cost 1.50 lakh crore the total debt would be a massive 2.5 lakh crore. The financial debt per head would be in lakhs and we would be indebted for another century or so. A very simple calculation in this regard would be shocking. At the prevailing interest rate we will have to shed out almost 16.50 crore per day interest for the budgeted figure of 1.50 lakhs crore. Just think how many people have to travel a day to realize this interest alone. The government has given a beautiful name for the financing part of it.PPP. Public Private Partnership. In this 20% would be shared by Kerala & Central Governments and 80% will be from overseas funding. Let us not be in the fools paradise that the overseas funding need not to be repaid. They do not give us fund on charity but to make profit. We will be having an elevated railway system that may send our financial planning to the drain. It is high time we think , whether we need this huge financial burden. Is this development?. Or is it some kind of a circus fooling all on the false name of development. Do we need this kind of an infra structure or do we need intra structure. Think about our facilities right now. How can we justify HSRC in light of the underdeveloped Indian railways…. Unmanned level crossings which need only a few crores of investment to get most of the so called advantages of HSRC. Is it not the time to tell all those coveted leaders that we cannot nod positively for any menace though it is wrapped up in the most elegant package. Just look back to our history where in the past we were political victims under a foreign rule but now we are going to be victims of financial slavery of foreign loans. This is not an issue of the evacuated people alone but a common problem that affects each and every one of us. Arise… protest that we can live peacefully.

Third and final , we should know Will this project face any environmental setbacks or what are the other effects on the environment by this project.

The western ghat chairman Prof. Madhav Gadgil Committee has recommended classifying Kerala in to three Ecologically Sensitive Zones. In these classifications, zone one and two are very sensitive zones and the committee has recommended that no major construction related works are to be initiated. To our dismay the HSRC is being planned to be built mainly in zone two. This itself points out that there would be major environmental setbacks if High Speed Rail Corridor is built along this zone two.

Our water reservoirs both the surface and underground would be heavily affected adversely when they carry out the digging/leveling for this rail line. The loss of agricultural land would be another blow to the already sick production of staple food for which we depend upon the neighboring state immensely. This is against even our Country’s policy towards agriculture. Kerala’s environment is famous for the richness of our natural resources and diverse eco assets. This environment will be destroyed by constructing the rail, the approach/service roads that would cruelly divide Kerala into two. The preconstruction and construction works would bring unimaginable aftermaths. Imagine about the thousands of pillars that are to be constructed on land/water reservoirs and for bridges….. how much that would destroy the rich soil, that block all our water resources cannot be comprehended. It is true that we can transfigure Kerala into a Singapore , Hong Kong or Dubai…. But how many of these Countries can create a Kerala there? We are naturally rich with a rich nature. What we are trying to make of ourselves is a concrete jungle.

Keep away from our villages and country side… play your circus in cities where you want your commerce to grow or luxury to be available….. here we live away from the menace of the cities to have a peaceful life… not interested in any of your so called developmental works that destroy the very concept of development that Mahatma Ghandhi had in mind. You call yourselves His followers, but have you ever thought that with all your developmental gimmicks, HE would be suffocating where he is now…. In the hearts of the poor and common man… HE had the simplest and easiest solution… HE only asked us to think if the poorest of the poor benefit with any action that we take commonly… .. in the case of HSRC we can clearly see it is only the richest that may benefit with the sacrifice of the most poor and common man who will be left with nothing other than their past.

Why can’t the authorities understand the basics of Ghandhism.. You ask us to surrender all our possessions so that Mr. Rich will save 3 – 4 hours to reach his destination or another affordable man in the street to reach secretariat where half a day is lost to see a babu… or a medical college where days are needed to have an appointment…. But we stand to lose the entire life and dreams to live with peace.

We will not allow this, we do not want our children to lose what the nature has offered them.. We do not want our children to fight for water, good air and unpolluted land. We cannot give a nod to your fantasies nor can we allow you to loot in the name of development……. How many of you leaders lose your homes….. if you stand to lose , you will change the entire plan of this project and re route it….. you tell us something and do just the opposite… do you want us to act on your own promises….. then send your survey people we know how to ask them to turn back since you people have told us that the project is dropped and why bring this up again.

Why do you want us to believe we voted for liars and connive planners. Is this democracy…..You can not even control the price of our staple food, rice, which is rising everyday.. and how do you believe that this project will cost just 1.18 lakh crore with a declared construction span of 7 years and we know 7 in your planning is 17 or more… think about the rocks/ sand that you will need to pour into the mother earth ……. Mountains will be valleys quarrying them … rivers will be huge dry pits excavating them for sand…. You are going against your own policies and what is the very purpose has become the most evil deed you plan to execute. This has to be stopped…. The development works have to go on…. Without harming our land/people and their environment…. The financial burden you are going to put on the people is beyond forgiveness. Please realize…..please wake up…. Let us not be a prey to the international conniving minds…………. and patriotism is indeed, not a theme to be followed but the most divine duty of each citizen… and you being the first among the equals… do have a right to protect us than harm us ..

Drop all such projects that would not be financially feasible/socially anti/ and against environment and that may destroy the equilibrium of nature and man.

MERITS

1)A traveler can reach Trivandrum from Kasargod within 3 hours.

2)Kerala will become the first to have High Speed Trains.

DEMERITS

1)More than 50000 homes will have to be evacuated . This is a rough account. It can become almost a lakh in reality. The Chairman of KHSRC claims that only 2500 houses would be affected. he seems to be treading the path of the British.. they followed the principle.. divide and rule .. but this man rules to divide.

2)Almost hectors of land has to be acquired to execute this project as 110-150 meters are being surveyed and marked for this purpose

3)230 crores have to be spent for each one Km of rail as per the rates today. This would double or triple in the coming years.

4)We shall indebt the next generation for this financial commitment undertaken since 80% of the cost is being shouldered by outside sources.

5)The construction menaces are being overlooked. If we trust the 7 year period of its completion the neighboring habitat will be disturbed immensely. The logistic operations, approach road construction etc etc will hamper the peace of the locality. The air / water pollution would be beyond imagination. There will be dust all over and the greeneries would stop.

6)Environmental impacts would be extreme. Waste management as lakhs of tons rocks / sand / cement will be used for the purpose. The water alignment will be displaced as so much concrete would be pumped down for constructing pillars on every 25 meters. The water sources would be lost. The rain water will get clogged. The carbon waste would make the atmosphere living unfriendly. The noise of this will fill the ears , making a peaceful life impossible.

7)Near by existing buildings would be losing the life span due to vibration.

8)Our agricultural land would be lost and dependency on other state for food will increase. This will automatically bring the cost of living higher than the earnings.

9)Not even one employment would be beneficial to Kerala. We know the BOT roads for that instance.

10) We will be only protecting Japan in the long run than our own people.

11)Land mafia who would welcome this project are like vultures waiting to savor the corpse of the common people.

12)The affected People are in utter despair as they do not know what happens now. They cannot sell / buy /land nor can they undertake any new construction. No Government should do this. This is a very unfriendly government who keeps the mass in the dark. This is absolutely indecent and unconstitutional. This kind of an operation will make people hate the government machinery. This would make the common public disbelieve the government no matter what ever their publicized agenda. The impact will be chaos.

13)The fare just to cover the interest if 48,310 man trips per day ( as projected in the feasibility study) is taken into consideration and the rate of interest is presumed to be the lowest 5% would come to almost Rs.3353.00. On an average cost for traveling 500kms on such rail would cost Rs.23000.00 around trip since the trips would be much less than projected in the feasibility study. The per day interest that has to be recovered is 16.52 crores.

Thanks,

Davis Vallooran

Secretary HSRC Protest Koratty

Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) former chief economist C T S Nair has said that if implemented, the High Speed Rail Corridor will end up as a travel option for the super rich and those whose travel will be paid by government or companies.
Nair expressed concern over the economic viability of the high speed rail corridor in Kerala and whether the state should consider this as a priority at all.
He said that the project, with an investment cost almost double the state’s budget, is being implemented even without a casual analysis.
Taking just the interest component of the investment into consideration, Nair said that there would be a cost overrun, making it unaffordable to general public and nonviable to the state.
“Even with a five per cent interest rate, the annual interest on the cost of investment alone will be Rs 5,900 crore per year or about Rs 16.2 crore per day.
“To make the project feasible at the projected traffic estimate, the ticket costs will have to be very high,” Nair said.
“Obviously at such costs, the number of passengers will go down and the ticket costs will go up even more, making travelling on high speed rail corridor a travel option for just the very-rich. What is now a milking cow will later on become a white elephant,” he said.
Assuming that passengers will shift from existing rail, bus and car travels, DMRC’s base traffic estimate touches 48,310 trips per day in 2021. Nair said that this is an over-estimate as only a small percentage of the state’s commuters will be able to afford the ticket cost of Rs 3,353, which will cover just the interest on initial investment.
“Factors such as operational and maintenance costs, energy consumption, displacement and compensation for people, social impacts and ecological implications have not been considered,” Nair said.
Pointing out that accumulating debts on high speed rail had led to the disbanding of the Japanese public rail, Nair said that the Economist, assessing proposals for such high speed rails in UK and Brazil had concluded that Britain should ditch the project and other countries should reconsider plans.
“A good infrastructure scheme has a long life. But a bad one can derail both public finances and a country’s development ambitions,” he said.
Nair said that the high speed rail corridor was excellent to connect two highly populated towns separated by relatively barren land. The suitability of the project cutting through the densely populated state, which will not have provisions for over-pass or under-pass, has to be widely debated before going in for implementation.
“Besides, the economic situation in countries that have implemented high speed corridor is far better than India. While the project may sound attractive, whether it suits our income and demography is a matter of debate,” he said.

http://newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/article605324.ece