VS sees bid to oust DMRC from Light Metro

Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan has accused the State government of making clandestine moves to out the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) from implementing the proposed Light Metro project for Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram.

In a statement here on Thursday, Mr. Achuthanandan said the attempt was to convert the Light Metro project into a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) project after ousting the DMRC.

Election stunt

The Chief Minister, who frequently spoke about the government’s commitment to execute the Light Metro project for the two cities, was actually fooling the people. Its statements on implementing the project were nothing but an election stunt, he said.

Mr. Achuthanandan said the State government had sent the proposal for Central nod without formally approving the project report submitted by the DMRC. The strategy was similar to that adopted initially in the case of the Kochi Metro project when there was an attempt to keep out both the DMRC and its adviser E. Sreedharan.

This was meant only to facilitate massive corruption in the implementation of the project.

The government should desist from such moves or be ready to face a strong protest, the Opposition leader said.