{"id":116498,"date":"2021-07-05T18:10:45","date_gmt":"2021-07-05T12:40:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=116498"},"modified":"2021-07-06T12:27:24","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T06:57:24","slug":"the-heavy-footprint-of-a-light-rail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/the-heavy-footprint-of-a-light-rail\/","title":{"rendered":"The heavy footprint of a light rail"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><b>Source<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <a href=\"https:\/\/epaper.thehindu.com\/Home\/ShareArticle?OrgId=GI88O126F.1&amp;imageview=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hindu<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Relevance:<\/strong> This article depicts the harmful impacts of rapid development of transportation system in India.<\/p>\n<p><b>Synopsis<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The light rail project of Kerala government connecting Thirunvananthapuram and Kasargod would inflict severe environmental damage in the state. The government should look for alternative options like a sea ferry that can ensure seamless transportation and significantly reduce environmental degradation.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><b>Background<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Government of Kerala is planning to construct a <strong>light rail project<\/strong>. It will reduce the travel time between the two extremities of the State &#8211; the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram in the south and the town of Kasargod in its north.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Currently, it has drawn criticism from environmental groups owing to its adverse impact on the region\u2019s ecology, but there are economic concerns as well.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Concerns associated with of yet another rail line:<\/b><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>First<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the land chosen for railway construction is of an undulated topography combined with an often rocky surface that is prone to crumbling when dislodged.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Excessive quarrying and construction have already left it vulnerable to torrential rain, as seen in the devastating landslides recorded across the State in recent years. Therefore, the construction will <\/span><b>severely impact the stability of the earth\u2019s surface<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> along its course.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Second<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, its construction will submerge various wetlands of the state, which may <\/span><b>deter the fresh water supply<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to nearby communities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Third<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the wetland consists of paddy fields as well. Hence, submergence would hamper the <\/span><b>livelihood of farmers and impact food security of the region,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as paddy is the staple food of Malayalees.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Way Ahead<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government should listen to citizens\u2019 concerns on the plan to install a light railway across the State.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two years ago it had dismissed protests by the villagers of Keezhattur in Kannur District against a highway project that would destroy their paddy fields.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government should look for alternate options for connectivity. The state already has a well-connected road, railway and airway transportation system.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It can now build a sea-borne ferry service connecting Thiruvananthapuram with Kasargod, and all the ports in between. This would leave the land untouched.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Terms to Know<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Light Rail<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: The Hindu\u00a0 Relevance: This article depicts the harmful impacts of rapid development of transportation system in India. Synopsis: The light rail project of Kerala government connecting Thirunvananthapuram and Kasargod would inflict severe environmental damage in the state. The government should look for alternative options like a sea ferry that can ensure seamless transportation and&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/the-heavy-footprint-of-a-light-rail\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The heavy footprint of a light rail<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10322,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704637214},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10322"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116498\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}