Thiruvananthapuram: Amidst strong opposition, the Kerala government is making moves to realise the semi-high-speed Silver Line rail project. The government on Monday has directed Deputy Collector Anil Jose to oversee the land acquisition process for the project.

Eleven Tehsildars, under the supervision of Anil, will acquire the lands. A total of 1221 hectares of land will be taken over in 11 districts.

Earlier, Congress and the BJP had come out against the Silver Line project citing that it was non-essential and could severely affect the cash strapped state. Opposition leader VD Satheesan had said that the government is going ahead with the project when the state is sinking in debt.

BJP state president K Surendran had said that K Rail was an unnecessary project for the state and would oppose it. Surendran had alleged that crores of rupees were being taken as commission in the name of the project.