Protest Against Denial of Metro Rail for Tamil Nadu Cities

Chennai: Pledging to secure permission for the proposed Metro Rail projects in Coimbatore and Madurai, which were denied by the Union Government, Chief Minister M K Stalin said that the State government would fight for it with the same determination in which it overcame the malicious attempts to stall the Chennai Metro scheme and managed to keep the project progressing.

While the Chief Minister put out a strong message on X, proclaiming ‘Tamil Nadu will fight! Tamil Nadu will win!,’ the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance announced protests at Coimbatore on Thursday and at Madurai on Friday against the Union BJP government’s continued neglect of the State in various fronts including the latest refusal to give sanction for the Metro Rail schemes on flimsy grounds, impeding the future growth of the cities.

While a government existed to serve people without bias, the Union BJP government treated Tamil Nadu’s democratic choice as a reason to take revenge, Stalin said, pointing out that by ‘pushing such a political custom,’ the BJP ruled states had been granted permission for Metro Rail schemes for Tier II cities that were smaller than Coimbatore and Madurai.

Describing the deprival of Metro Rail to cities in opposition ruled States as a disgraceful approach, he said, ‘Tamil Nadu, the land of Self Respect, will never accept such a distortion of federal principles.’

The protests called by the DMK and its allies would be held at 10 am in Coimbatore on Thursday and in Madurai on Friday.

Reacting to the trashing of the Metro Rail schemes, TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai said that the Union BJP government had not given any projects for Tamil Nadu in the past 11 years. The Metro Rail schemes were envisaged during the previous UPA government in 2010 when 19 second tier cities were identified by the Union Urban Development Ministry for the transport project.

Though 15 years had passed since then, cities in Tamil Nadu had been denied the scheme while work on the construction of Metro Rail had already begun in places like Kochi and Pune. It was an injustice to Tamil Nadu, he said.

Pointing to the reason cited for the denial of permission for Coimbatore as its population was below 20 lakh, he said that the district’s population was 23.5 lakh as per the 2011 Census and Madurai’s population was 24.96 lakh.

The same scheme had been sanctioned for cities with less population, he said, citing the examples of Agra with 11 lakh people, Patna with 17 lakh people and Bhopal with 18.8 lakh people getting the nod from the Union Government.