Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday sought the support of the Centre to take forward the development programmes of Kerala as the State “lacked the required resources”.
Speaking at the launch ceremony of the Kochi metro here, Mr. Vijayan said the government had a positive approach towards development. The Centre and the State were moving in unison on development issues, he said.
Mr. Vijayan said some sections may suffer loss while implementing development projects.
The government would go ahead with the projects after rehabilitating and providing adequate compensation to those hit by the projects.
On the controversy over inviting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for inaugurating the project and accommodating E. Sreedharan on stage for the inaugural function, Mr. Vijayan said the government was of the view that the Prime Minister should inaugurate the project, which was jointly implemented by the Centre and the State. He paid tributes to the “exemplary leadership of Mr. Sreedharan” at the function.
The completion of the Kochi metro on time would send a positive signal to prospective investors. It would also give out the message that such mega projects would be completed on time in the State, he said.
The Chief Minster also launched the mobile app Koch 1 at the function.
In his address, Union Minister for Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu said the project would reduce the commuting woes of people of Kochi with a train available every 10 minutes at affordable fares.
Central funding
Indicating that the Centre had released ₹ 2,032.91 crore for the project, Mr. Naidu urged Kochi Metro Rail Limited to expedite works on the remaining stretches of the project and throw it open to the public as soon as possible.
The Kochi project would generate significant direct and indirect employment opportunities for skilled, semi-skilled, and under-skilled workforce. With the project, 359 km of metro rail had become operational in the country, including the ones at Delhi and the National Capital Region, Gurgoan, Kolkata, Bengalauru, Jaipur, and Mumbai. Around 546 km of metro rail was under constriction, he said.
