CMRL Phase 2 has flaws: CPM tells LS

Making a special mention in the Parliament, he said that the Tamil Nadu government has finalized the phase II Metro Rail Project at a cost of Rs 80,000 crore. “While the project is welcomed by the general public, the route which has been finalized has some flaws and does not go well with the guidelines laid in the Metro Rail Policy 2017. For example, in the Policy under para D it is stressed that the State Govt should have a Comprehensive Mobility Plan which has a land use zones superimposed with a matching transport network,” he said.

Pointing out that the present plan of the phase II Metro for Chennai City runs through areas like TTK Road, Luz Church Road, Kutchery Road etc which are considered very posh locality, Rangarajan said that the residents of the locality are having their own mode of transport. “Further, the three-kilometre stretch does not have any public institution, hospital or school and colleges and thus will not serve any purpose. And as the roads are narrow, the Metro Rail will cause immense harm for movement of other public and private vehicles on the road,” he said.

The Marxist leader said that further, a successful Metro Rail critically dependent on the integration of secondary and tertiary transport feeder services. “The present alignment through TTK road etc, because of the posh residential locality, do not have a secondary or tertiary transport feeder services which are very necessary for a viable Metro rail system. In view of the above, I request the Central government to intervene in the matter and change the alignment of the Metro Rail Phase II system, instead of the present TTK Road etc,” he said.