Buoyed by the reception to Chennai Metro Rail, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday was optimistic that both the corridors (in phase 1) of the project will be operational by the end of 2016.
While the services between the airport (Meenambakkam) and Little Mount; Alandur and St. Thomas Mount will be operational by March 2016, the Koyambedu – Nehru Park will be opened by next June and both the corridors could become fully operational by 2016-end, she said in a statement.
Dismissing claims by DMK chief M. Karunanidhi and his son M.K. Stalin for taking credit, the Chief Minister, in a statement, said the service had become operational only as her government expedited the project.
Detailing the project history, Ms. Jayalalithaa said the feasibility study for the project was taken up only during her tenure in 2003. “It is a blatant lie that Metro was conceived and designed by the DMK government.”
While her government had asked for a detailed project report in 2004 itself, it was decided in 2005 that Monorail would be the best option for the city. But after the regime change, the DMK government cleared the project in 2007, but got the Centre’s nod only in 2009, she said, adding that the MoU between the Centre, State and Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) was signed only at the fag end of the DMK regime on February 15, 2011.
The DMK government had spent only Rs 1,143 crore between 2006-2011, which was three per cent of the project. “My government has spent Rs. 9,229 crore in the past four years and has completed 76 per cent,” she said.
Fare issue
On charges of high fare, the Chief Minister said the DMK government had agreed to a clause in the MoU to make statutory arrangement for periodic fare revision not only for Metro but also for other modes of transport. “The Tamil Nadu government did not fix the fare,” she clarified.
Initially, the CMRL fixed the fare and then as per the MoU signed by Mr. Karunanidhi, a statutory committee (comprising a High Court Judge and representatives of Centre and State governments) would decide on the fares subsequently, she pointed out. Besides, Mr. Karunanidhi had also agreed to a condition for setting up an Urban Transport Fund through levy of taxes and pooling of resources for operational subsidy, she said, asking why he signed an “anti-people” agreement.
