Although the 10-day deadline to decide on the Light Metro proposed for two cities in the State ended on May 8, the face-off between the government and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) over the project continues.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Minister for Public Works V.K. Ebrahim Kunju under whom the mass-rapid transit system project comes have not taken any initiative to break the ice or convene a meeting with E. Sreedharan, Principal Adviser, DMRC, as decided.
Mr. Sreedharan, who is also a member of the State Planning Board, is arriving here on Tuesday for a Planning Board meeting to be chaired by Mr. Chandy. No decision has been taken to resolve the uncertainty on the mode of execution of Light Metro in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, official sources said.
The DMRC has not been given a copy of the remarks made by the Finance Department on the detailed project report (DPR) despite the official request to Kerala Monorail Corporation Ltd. (KMCL), the special purpose vehicle set up to execute the project in 35.12 km in Phase I in the two cities.
The file containing the DPR with a turn key consultancy, the appraisal report of the Planning Board, and the report of the Finance Department suggesting a public-private partnership (PPP) hybrid mode has been with the Principal Secretary, Public Works Department, for more than three weeks, highly placed sources said.
The DMRC has taken the stand that it will not give its version unless the report from the Finance Department is given. The reluctance to share it has raised suspicion as moves are on to rope in private players, oust the DMRC, and go for the PPP mode.
The DMRC is also upset over the report of the Finance Department, which does not have any technical expertise on the rolling stock, and that of the Planning Board of which Mr. Sreedharan is a member.
It is learnt that the Finance Department depended on an ex-DMRC official, now with Kochi Metro Rail Ltd., and a National Transportation Planning and Research Centre official on deputation for the technical expertise, the sources said.
The DMRC will withdraw from the project if the government goes for sharing the project “piece-meal” to rope in private players as desired by vested interests, project officials said.
