K-Rail: Suprised by silence of the railways, says High Court 

KOCHI: The High Court said it was surprising that the Railways, which is a partner in the K-Rail project, remained silent on issues including the survey for a socio-economic impact study. Justice Devan Ramachandran said the Railways, which has a 49 per cent stake in the project, had not clarified anything despite the controversy over the survey. The High Court was hearing a series of petitions filed by Kottayam native Murali Krishnan and others against the installation of stones marked 'K-Rail' as part of the survey. The petitions will be considered again today.

The High Court said that the survey was being conducted for a social impact study and there was no need to worry about land acquisition at this stage. The court said that it had received information that not even an inch of land had been frozen due to the installation of survey stones and that there was no impediment to getting a loan by mortgaging this land. The Supreme Court has directed that the survey should not be blocked. But it can be checked whether the survey is conducted in accordance with the law. The single bench also sought clarification on whether the survey could be conducted without prior notice.