THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the Railways favouring the land acquisition in the High Court, the government has expedited the follow-up to the Semi-High Speed ​​Rail (SilverLine) project. So far, boundary stones have been installed only along 25 percent of the proposed path. The aim is to start a social impact study by speeding up the stone laying process. Although notification was issued to conduct the study in Kannur, Kasaragod, Alappuzha, Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam districts, the stone laying has not been completed anywhere. More officers may be deployed for this. A joint inspection of Railways and K-Rail for the acquisition of 185 hectares of land will take place soon. The examination of the documents is in the final stages.

With the High Court barring installation of large boundary stones inscribed 'K-Rail', the officials are currently demarcating boundary by installing small stones. The stone laying process is being expedited as the social impact study requires 100 days. Of the 1383 hectares to be acquired, 1198 hectares of land are owned by private parties. KIIFB will provide Rs 2100 crore for land acquisition. The social impact study will be held after demarcating boundaries by installing stones on private land. Authorities will also study about the buildings that need to be demolished, affected families, losses and ways to mitigate the impact.

Land acquisition will take two years. International agencies like ADB, JICA and AIIB will not grant loans without 80% land acquisition. That is why the state decided to start the land acquisition process before getting central approval. This is not the first time that land acquisition is getting started even before obtaining approval. Although the Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode light metros are yet to be finalized, land acquisition for depots and flyovers has already started. Even though the Aranmula airport is yet to get preliminary approval, an order has been issued granting permission for land acquisition. There is a rule that land can be acquired for projects with the in-principle approval of the central government.