Protest is brewing against the alleged indifference of the State government in implementing the Kozhikode Light Metro project.
A nascent outfit, Light Metro Samara Samiti, formed with the support of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has decided to stage a satyagraha in front of the district collectorate on March 23. A mass convention held here on Tuesday constituted a committee with historian M.G.S. Narayanan as chairman and M.K. Raghavan, MP, and M.K. Muneer, MLA, as conveners.
Speaking after opening the convention, Mr. Narayanan said that the ‘insult’ to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Principal Advisor E. Sreedharan, who wholeheartedly worked for the project, did not augur well for the State. The Light Metro project was conceived in good faith so as to solve the traffic congestion in the city, he said. He said that the Metroman had the ability and expertise to secure clearance from the Centre and also the funds required for the project. It was unfortunate that he had been humiliated in an abashed manner. Now, the project had also come to a standstill, he said.
District Congress Committee president T. Siddique said that the convention also decided to chalk out its future course of agitation with the participation of people. The satyagraha next week would be the first protest to press the demand for executing the mega project, he said.
The DMRC had pulled out of the Light Metro project proposed for Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram cities last week after the reported reluctance of the State government to sign the turnkey consultancy agreement for the preparatory works of the transit system even after 14 months.
However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had clarified in the Assembly that the government was committed to implementing the project and that fiscal condition of the State was not conducive enough to meet the investment required for the project. And the government had not shown any disrespect to Mr. Sreedharan.
Already, the DMRC office that functioned at the Hi-lite Business Park has been shut down.
The Light Metro project for Kozhikode proposes to cover a distance of 13.30 km from Meenchanda to Kozhikode Medical College with 14 stations.
