ONE of the most used points in the anti-Left propaganda is that Left stands against “development”. How untrue this canard is can be gauged from the record of successive Left governments. The Left and Democratic Front rule in Kerala during 2006-2011saw the state marching ahead industrially. Various new projects were started under that government. The prime priority of that government was to reopen the industrial units that were closed down during the previous UDF government. It also focused on new generation sectors like IT apart from infrastructure development. The initial steps for the Kochi Metro were taken by the LDF. The then chief minister V S Achuthananandan and the then finance minister Dr T M Thomas Isaac held a series of discussions with DMRC managing director E Sreedharan and Planning Board vice chariman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and had the successful Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) associated with the project.
But the new UDF government is bent on getting rid of the DMRC from the project. The government announced in a casual manner that there would be global tenders for Kochi Metro leading to disdain from DMRC which is already associated with the project. It announced that it will withdraw from Kochi Metro project if the government is going ahead on its own. The hope of the people of Kochi to have a state of the art public transport system in Kochi
The opposition saw a huge case of corruption in the UDF government’s move, as recently the bank account of Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) was given to a bank managed by a close relative of the chief minister Ommen Chandy. The opposition leaders alleged that government is planning to award the project to other companies instead of DMRC, a public sector unit which is well known for its transparency and its spectacular track record. CPI(M) leaders P Rajeev, MP, and T M Thomas Isaac, MLA, said that there was 'a mystery behind the latest moves on the part of the state government to get rid of E Sreedharan and DMRC'.
KMRL managing director Tom Jose said he had no information about such a decision of the DMRC but added that its withdrawal would in no way affect the timely implementation of the 26 km metro rail project. The KMRL would start the implementation of the project once the necessary clearance came from the centre, he said.
The cold war between the two metro companies reached a flashpoint after Tom Jose wrote to the DMRC to inform that it could participate in the open tender process planned for selecting the implementation agency. The DMRC reportedly felt slighted at this as it had been associated with the Kochi Metro project right from the very beginning.
Warning the UDF government, CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan called upon the people of Kerala to prevent a situation in which Kochi Metro project would be scuttled. “The government is planning to get rid of DMRC from the project and try to invite private players in the name of global tender. This will lead to loss of the expertise of DMRC and experience of E Sreedharan . The project should be taken up as early as possible in the public sector”, said Pinarayi. He wanted the chief minister Chandy to come clean on why the government wants to go for a global tender for this project when the expertise for this has been proved by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. He asserted that the people of Kerala are keen to get an answer from Chandy on this.
Leader of opposition, V S Achuthanandan charged that the move to get rid of DMRC was meant for indulging in huge corruption. “E Sreedharan has proved his excellece by successfully completing projects like Konkan Railway and Delhi Metro and was burning the midnight oil to realise the Rs 5000 crore Kochi Metro. The LDF government had initiated the project by allotting Rs 150 crore and constructed the KMRL office. It had also allotted Rs 50 crore for infrastructure development like constructing bridges”, he said.
CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and former state home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan also charged the UDF government of trying to get rid of DMRC in order to get kickbacks from new private parties. He demanded that at no cost should the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation be removed from the project.
Even the union minister Vayalar Ravi has asked the Chandy government to be cautious in the way the state government went about this project.
Sreedharan said that it was for the state government to take a final decision on the implementation of the Kochi Metro rail project. Refusing to speak on the controversy over the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's role in the implementation of the project, he said that DMRC got involved in the project following repeated appeals made by both the UDF and former LDF governments.
(Published in Peoples Democracy)
