Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister
V S Achuthanandan on Saturday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to
take steps to remove the hurdles before the proposed metro
rail project at Kochi.
In a memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister, he said
the project was getting inordinately delayed due to lack of
clearance from the Finance Ministry. The project had already
been cleared by Planning Commission and Union Urban
Development ministry, he said.
The Chief Minister also wanted the centre to approve the
state's demand that the project be implemented on the lines of
the Delhi metro rail. Traffic congestion in Kochi city would
increase with the coming up of various development projects
including the Vallarpadam container terminal, he pointed out.
The state government had already initiated preliminary
work for the project at a cost of Rs 158.68 crore, he said in
the memorandum.
Achuthanandan also submitted another memorandum to the
Prime Minister seeking immediate approval for the proposed
coach factory at Palakkad. A total of 430.59 acres of land had
been identified by the state government to be handed over to
the Railways for the factory, of which 429.27 acres had aready
been acquired.
Though the state wanted the factory to be set up in the
public sector, the Railway ministry was for a joint venture
for its construction.
The state government had accordingly fixed the lease
amount for the land being made available for Railways and
informed the authorities. However, the Railways had not taken
further steps on the matter, the Chief Minister pointed out.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, February 12, 2011, 19:10