Metro Man E Sreedharan on Thursday called for legal cover for the monorail projects in the State. Delivering the keynote address at a seminar on modern transport planning organised by the ‘Thalasthana Vikasana Council’ here on Thursday, Sreedharan said that enacting a piece of legislation like the Delhi Metro Railway Act would help the projects save a considerable amount of expense, including power charges and taxes.
Besides Central and State funding, suppliers’ credit can also be sought for meeting the project expense. ‘’There are only three suppliers in the world for monorail projects and all of them would be willing to provide credit. As the credit has to be liquidated in 8-12 years, returns from the projects are crucial,’’ he said.
‘’As the project would be implemented in phases, selection of routes becomes crucial in this context,’’ he added.
Though a light metro rail project has several advantages over the monorail, the capital should opt for the latter as metro rail projects require Central clearance. ‘’The Kochi project, which took seven years to obtain Central clearance, should be an eye opener,’’ he opined.
Sreedharan also ruled out the possibility of bus rapid transit system in the capital as it requires large-scale road development.
Health Minister V S Sivakumar, who inaugurated the seminar, said that the ongoing renovation works on 42 km of city roads would be completed in two months. ‘’We also plan to take up the works of another 50 km in the second phase. Besides, the Government has also plans to form sector-wise committees for the overall development of the capital,’’ he said.
Shashi Tharoor MP, in his address, mooted a comprehensive metropolitan transportation plan for the capital. ‘’The existing development plans for the city are outdated. Hence, a new plan and a single point metropolitan transportation authority are essential,’’ he said.
Former Railway Board chairman M N Prasad said that road development had witnessed little progress in the State.
‘’Widening of several important roads, including national highways, still remains on paper. Improvement of major roads and speeding up the work of bypasses are essential for smooth and safe traffic,’’ he said.
Planning Board Member G Vijayaraghavan, Kerala High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd chairman and managing director T Balakrishnan, TRIDA chairman P K Venugopal, former MLA and Thalasthana Vikasana Council chairman K Mohankumar, Thiruvananthapuram Chamber of Commerce and Industries former president E M Najeeb and Council convener Xavier Lopez also spoke.
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