Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider rejecting the proposals for the Metro Rail systems in Coimbatore and Madurai, saying that the "most urbanised state in the country" needs to have high-capacity public transport in all cities.
In a letter written to PM Modi, TN CM Stalin expressed his "disappointment and anguish" over the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) rejecting the proposals, saying that the rejections have come as a "complete surprise" to the state government since multiple officials, including the Chief Minister, have constantly been in touch with the relevant ministry.
"I wish to convey our disappointment and anguish over the rejection of the proposals for Metro Rail systems in Coimbatore and Madurai, and urge you to instruct the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to reconsider the decision. Tamil Nadu, being the most urbanised State in the country with a high per-capita private vehicle ownership, needs high-capacity public transport alternatives in all its large growth engine cities," the letter to PM Modi read.
According to CM Stalin, he had specifically raised the issue of approving the projects to PM Modi on May 24 and July 26, when the CM met with PM Modi, and submitted a memorandum on priority requests. As such, the rejection of the proposals has left the locals with a "deep resentment."
"In this backdrop, the rejection of this request has taken us by complete surprise. It has created deep resentment amongst the people of the two cities that their deserving needs have been rejected, as compared to similar projects sanctioned in other states," he said.
Stalin also took issue with the reasons given for the rejection of projects, saying that the rule provided for rejection, requiring a minimum 2 million (20 lakh) city population, has already been fulfilled by the area under the Coimbatore Larger Planning Authority since 2011, and will soon be fulfilled by Madurai too.
"The criterion of 2 million population, as in the Metro Rail Policy 2017, has been quoted as one of the main reasons for rejection. I wish to highlight that the population of Coimbatore LPA area had exceeded 2 million way back in 2011 itself, and in the case of Madurai too, the expected population is likely to exceed it now," CM Stalin's letter read.
According to Stalin, the policy itself has not been uniformly applied; otherwise, many Tier-2 cities such as Agra, Indore and Patna may not have developed. As such, CM Stalin has alleged that the "selective application" of the criteria has "created an impression of discrimination against our cities."
"In addition, the adequacy of ridership for the project in Coimbatore city has been arrived at by comparing with the ridership of Chennai. This is not appropriate since ridership depends upon multiple factors. Both these cities have commuting patterns different from Chennai," he added.
The Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) Coimbatore had detailed traffic studies that had clearly projected the need for MRTS in the proposed sectors, according to the letter. Similarly, for Madurai, the CMP had recommended a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) or equally called for considering a rapid rail metro.
"Further, the DPR studies have made subsequent independent assessments of traffic projections, which justified the need for Metro Rail corridors. These factors have not been adequately taken into consideration," CM Stalin alleged.
Talking about ensuring the acquisition of private land, the Chief Minister mentioned that the government is "fully conscious" of the need to balance social costs with long-term socio-economic benefits from metro projects, and as such, fair compensation has been provided.
"We have been offering compensation which meets the expectations of the land owners in our current project, and we will ensure that the availability of land will not be a hindrance for the proposed projects at Coimbatore and Madurai cities," the letter read.
The Chief Minister said that he is ready to have a meeting with the Union Ministry and also the Prime Minister in New Delhi to explain his side, and called for PM Modi's personal intervention into the matter.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and auto-generated from an agency feed.)
