Politics blamed for Chennai MRTS delay

It is almost two months since the Commissioner of Rail Safety gave the green signal for the Tiruvanmiyur- Velachery section of Chennai’s mass rapid transit system....

It is almost two months since the Commissioner of Rail Safety (CRS) gave the green signal for the Tiruvanmiyur- Velachery section of Chennai’s mass rapid transit system (MRTS) as being fit for train traffic. But the Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) service is yet to begin on the section with Chief Minister M Karunanidhi not having given a date for the inauguration.

According to sources, Union Minister of State for Railways R Velu had contacted Karunanidhi with a request to inaugurate the section immediately after the CRS clearance came in the third week of July. It was decided that the section would be thrown open to traffic latest by mid-August.

Although change of plans is one of the reasons for the section not opening on time, the strained relationship between the DMK and the PMK (to which Velu belongs), is being blamed for the delay.

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Though both Karunanidhi and PMK founder S Ramadoss made conciliatory signs a few days ago, meaning is being read into the Chief Minister’s delay in announcing the inaugural date for the section. The spat between the DMK and the PMK has led people to believe that Karunanidhi has made conscious efforts not to share the platform with any of the frontline PMK leaders.

Work on this section of the MRTS had been dogged by delays for various reasons, the most serious being the “sinking” of soil in Perungudi, which necessitated change in the plans. The work as per the redrawn plan was scheduled to be completed by December last year.

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