Alternative for K-Rail

Only politics that prioritise development will benefit the populace. Political gains made by exploiting disputes in the name of religion and belief will not benefit the country's progress and create crises. It is high time the opposition needs to drop the trend of hindering any development projects put forward by the ruling party.

The shortcomings of any project can be pointed out. A concerted effort is then needed to resolve them. Unfortunately, political cooperation in Kerala for development projects is on a dismal run compared with other states.

Whatever project the government proposes, it is customary that the negative aspects of it will make it to the debate table, but not the positive sides. Knowing that people favour such news over others, the media will go into a frenzy to discuss the negative aspects of any project. At the same time, society in general maintains a kind of indifference towards the benefits of the project. Kerala is fifty times larger than Singapore. Kerala is blessed with natural resources and mineral wealth. The growth achieved by Singapore, which has none of these, in the last three-quarters of a century is eye-catching. If Kerala had achieved at least a quarter of the growth of Singapore, the state would have become one of the most sought-after places in the world!

Singapore is only slightly larger than Chennai in area. The number of foreign tourists visiting Singapore in a year is more than the total number of tourists visiting India.

Kerala never talks about its potential, but about its weaknesses. If it is this attitude that is stunting Kerala's growth, the political parties need to adopt an approach that prioritises the state's interests. From the beginning, all the opposition political parties strongly opposed the K-Rail project. The current ruling government of Kerala followed a similar archaic practice during the initial days of the Vizhinjam project.

Over the years, Vizhinjam became a reality and morphed into a bustling port with excellent container movement. Many of those contrarian voices that once stood against the project now can be seen singing paeans.

Earlier, CM Pinarayi Vijayan remarked that there was no point waiting for the K-Rail project, giving an indication that the project is almost dead. K-Rail would have been extremely helpful for the development of the state. The Chief Minister blamed 'politics' for the central government preventing approval for the project. Even if the K-Rail is a closed chapter, it would be great if Kerala gets a high-speed alternative route for trains. The possibilities of an alternative route that meets the Central Railway standards can still be explored.