Thiruvananthapuram: Terming the centre's decision to set up a new port at Colachel near Kanyakumari as illogical, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that he will call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convey the state's serious objections and concerns over the decision.
“As soon as the decision to set up Colachel port came, I had written to the Prime Minister expressing our serious concerns and objections. This month itself I am planning to visit the Prime Minister to discuss the matter. The MPs from the state will be urged to raise the issue in Parliament," the Chief Minister told the Assembly on Friday while replying to a submission by M. Vincent.
The Chief Minister said that the decision to set up a new port was illogical and wasting of public money. "Despite Vizhinjam having many advantages, viability gap funding was offered owing to concerns over its viability. Hence it is surprising that the centre had allowed another port within 30 km. The state can't agree with such illogical decisions to waste public money," he said.
Indirectly blaming the previous UDF government, Mr. Vijayan said that as a result of shifting from the landlord model proposed for the Vizhinjam project, the state government got little say over the project now. Hence, the Adani group has to initiate steps to complete the project within 1,000 days. The state government had expedited all steps from its side, he said. He also recollected the initial objections of the centre in allowing Vizhinjam port citing that the Vallarpadam port was just 200 km away.
