Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s announcement in the Assembly on Wednesday that Coimbatore will get a metro rail is expected to give a boost to public transport infrastructure of the city. However, what is needed is an immediate announcement regarding the feasibility study for the project, say sources here.
K. Kathirmathiyon, secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause, says, “I welcome the announcement with caution. It is a long-term project and needs a lot of work to be done. This is only a beginning. The Government should take up the feasibility study soon.” The city certainly needs a mass rapid transit system. But, there should be a study of which system would be feasible. Just a couple of days ago, a senior State Government official had said that metro rail would not be viable for Coimbatore, he said.
According to R. Raveendran, secretary of Residents’ Awareness Association of Coimbatore, the DMK Government had announced a metro rail for Coimbatore and in 2011 former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said the State Government would implement a mono rail project for the city. “We invited the ‘Metro Man’ E. Sreedharan to Coimbatore and in March 2013, he suggested during a visit here that Coimbatore could go in for a light metro. He had said that with such huge investments, Coimbatore should look at a project for the next 100 years and not for just five or 10 years. Now, the Government should initiate measures to take forward the announcement. The Central Government is said to give subsidy for feasibility study, he said.
According to official sources here, the Metro project is expected to reduce congestion on city roads that are witnessing steady increase in vehicular population, a major chuck of which is constituted by two-wheelers. Also, two-wheelers are involved in 50 % of road traffic accidents. Estimates by traffic police shows that 200 vehicles are added to the roads of Coimbatore a day. Authorities feel that use of two-wheelers will marginally come down on stretches having metro connectivity.
However, the project will take a long time as the possible routes should be identified, a feasibility study done, and then draft the project and implement it by calling for global tender. This will be a step-by-step process and the possible routes could be Avinashi Road or Mettupalayam Road or any such main road, an official said.
“I really hope they form a special purpose vehicle and get into the details. Mr. Sreedharan had spent three days in Coimbatore and I think Metro will work for Coimbatore. We need to take steps soon so that traffic congestion on the roads ease in another three or four years,” said Vanitha Mohan, president of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore.
S. Narayanan, chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry, Coimbatore Zone, said any project that provides better mobility to its citizens is welcome. World-wide, metro projects do bring down dependence of individuals using their own vehicle. So the project should be implemented, taking into account all the concerns and requirements of the city.
