KOLLAM: Metroman E Sreedharan has once again raised his opposition against the SilverLine project. He told a news conference in Kollam that the project might not be approved as the submitted DPR is just a rushed one to get the Centre's approval. He further said that even if the project is approved, it will take at least three years to revise the DPR as per requirements. He listed seven reasons for his opposition to the project. He was in Kollam to receive the award from the Veluthambi Memorial Committee in Kundara.

Seven reasons

1. The first problem is that the rail passes through 391 km of land. High-speed trains are not planned to run at the ground level anywhere in the world. The weight of the embankment is likely to create cracks on the ground, which is dangerous.

2. The wall on either side of the rail will divide Kerala in two. If 800 overbridges are built to fix this, the cost will be huge.

3. Crops will be destroyed along the 140 km route through the field. Innumerable trees have to be cut. They have not checked different alignments and selected the best one.

4. The expenditure of Rs 50,000 crore does not include many other expenses. The project will take at least Rs 1,25,000 crore to complete. The amount of required land is not calculated. The buffer zone is not taken into account. Twenty thousand families will have to be rehabilitated and not nine thousand.

5. The project won't be completed in five years. Environmental study and approval are required for the project that causes terrible damage.

6. The project has received only administrative approval in principle.

7. The DPR is just a copy of the traffic study previously conducted by the DMRC for a high-speed project.