CHENNAI: The Metro Rail project between the Airport and Kilambakkam is still under preliminary examination by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), much to the disappointment of residents in south suburban localities. It has been nearly 11 months since the TN government submitted the Detailed Project Report (DPR) to the Centre.

In a recent Right to Information (RTI) reply, MoHUA has confirmed the status of the report. This has raised eyebrows among the public as many point out, "While some Metro projects are approved in four to six months, the very crucial Airport to Kilambakkam Metro project is still under preliminary examination, causing a severe delay."

Dayanand Krishnan, a Geographic Information System (GIS) expert and transportation activist, who filed an RTI petition in February to the urban transport wing of MoHUA, said, "Other state Metro projects are approved in less than six months by the Ministry. However, there is a constant delay for Metro Rail projects in Tamil Nadu, like for Coimbatore and Madurai, which were eventually rejected."

He further pointed out that the DPR for Gujarat's Surat was submitted by the State in September 2018, which was approved in March 2019, in just 'six months'.

Similarly, for two Metro Rail projects in Uttar Pradesh - Kanpur and Agra, the State submitted a DPR in January 2019, which was approved by MoHUA in 'four months' in May 2019.

Likewise, for the Patna project, Bihar submitted a DPR in October 2018, which was approved in February 2019, amounting to a six-month duration to approve the report, as revealed by an RTI petition.

He further stressed, "The Metro extension will be a big game changer in Tambaram, which will easily record 1.50 lakh ridership and bring huge benefits to densely populated suburbs like Pallavaram, Chitlapakkam, Chromepet, Tambaram to reach Chennai city and vice versa."