Title - High-speed rail corridor: Protests galore

The soil examination tests conducted for the high-speed railway corridor are facing protests at many places in Aluva. The  examination conducted by the Seacom Technologies for the proposed high-speed rail corridor was temporarily interrupted by the natives at Chalackal, near here. The technical team faced opposition from the locals at Chalackal on Wednesday and at Chungamveli on Thursday. A group of people said to be the action council members against the rail corridor opposed the test carried out by drilling and piling works.  The work was interrupted following allegations that there was no clear idea regarding the details of the work. “Unless a clear picture was not given to us, we would continue disrupting the work,” the members said. At Chungamveli the protestors said they should be clearly notified of what is going to happen in the vicinity. The proposed high-speed rail corridor is between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod, and the drilling work necessary for the soil test has been given on sub-contract to Bangalore-based Seacom Technologies. According to Seacom, its work was to find the right place for building the tunnels that would contain the rail corridor, as well as determine how deep the tunnel would go. Normally, the tunnel would be 30 metres below the surface. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, the principal company for the project, is examining the possibility of laying tunnels even in densely populated areas. The DMRC had subcontracted Seacom to conduct the soil test.