Kerala: Light Metro Projects On The Back Burner, It Seems, As Work Pace Is Slow And Budgetary Allocations Absent

Major proposed infrastructure projects for Kerala such as light metro projects in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode have been reportedly lagging. Adding to the woes, the Kerala budget has not made any allocation for the projects although much of the allocation had been on infrastructure, reports The New Indian Express.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), the nodal agency for executing the project, backed out and all the proceedings are moving at a slow pace. With DMRC backing out, the state government has reportedly shown poor interest in finding a new consultant and hence the projects have been dragging.

“The proposed three flyover projects in Thiruvananthapuram, as part of the metro project, has not seen any progress for the past seven months. Now, the budget has also not set aside any fund for the project. From this move, we can conclude the government has forsaken the project,” said Shelly Raveendran, co-founder of Trivandrum Development Front (TDF) in the TNIE report.

Earlier, there were allegations that the finance department had been delaying the file as it had not approved the revised DPR prepared by the DMRC as per the new metro policy in 2017.

However, G Kamala Vardhana Rao, Principal Secretary, PWD, was quoted as saying by TNIE that the DPR had been forwarded to the Chief Minister for approval.

“Two months ago, the steering committee evaluated the DPR. Now, a committee led by the Chief Minister has to approve the same. However, the preliminary work of the proposed flyovers is progressing without any hiccup. Similarly, the KIIFB has already allocated funds for the flyover projects. The budget can’t earmark funds for the full project as the project is yet to be approved by the Centre,” said Rao.

The social impact assessment has been reportedly done at Thiruvananthapuram, and the district revenue administration has started the land acquisition proceedings. However, in Kozhikode, the land acquisition is moving at a snail’s pace and would reportedly take six to seven months to complete.