Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will lead a high-level State Government delegation yet again to Delhi to find ways of resolving the Kochi Metro imbroglio.
This is his second such trip in little more than a week after Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) signalled that it may back out of the project.
DMRC DECISION
The State Government has all along maintained that DMRC, led earlier by ‘Metroman’ E. Sreedharan, would implement the project.
The current standstill is attributed to a decision by the DMRC director board to seek its prior approval before the metro rail operator undertakes any work outside Delhi.
The issue could not be resolved during Chandy’s meetings with Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi, and Kamal Nath, Union Minister for Urban Development.
The Delhi Government holds 50 per cent stake in DMRC.
Chandy is now determined to find a political solution to the issue and is scheduled to meet the Prime Minister and, if needed, Sheila Diskhit in Delhi on November 7 and 8.
He will be accompanied by E. Sreedharan, principal adviser to the Kochi Metro project, and Aryadan Mohammed, Kerala’s Minister for Transport.
POLITICAL PRESSURE
Elias George, currently managing director of the special purpose vehicle — Kochi Metro Rail Corporation (KMRL), will also be available in Delhi.
Chandy told newspersons here that the State Government would look to ‘apply political pressure’ to ensure participation of DMRC in Kochi Metro.
Support of Members of Parliament from the State was also being enlisted to achieve this objective.
Kochi Metro is Kerala’s dream project, which it wants to execute efficiently, using modern technology, Chandy said.
But earlier last week, Union Minister Kamal Nath had cited DMRC’s ‘limitations’ in taking up the Kochi Metro project.
HANDS FULL
The crux of his argument was that the DMRC has its hands full with work on the 400-kilometre third and fourth stages of the Delhi Metro pending in its own backyard.
This is despite Chandy’s stand that Kochi Metro could be taken up without diverting DMRC personnel from their sites in Delhi.
In fact, the Kerala Government was pinning its hopes on DMRC’s expertise and experience to get the proposed monorail projects for Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram going.
It has already accorded in-principle approval for DMRC’s detailed project report for the Kozhikode project. The document for the Thiruvananthapuram project is awaited.