The inaugural venue of Kochi Metro became the converging point of state and Union governments to pledge their support for the development of Kerala. This gives a new hope for Kerala looking forward to big strides on the infrastructure front.
Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn’t announce any major development projects, he maintained a positive air throughout his speech, which gave a message that the Centre would provide all help for Kerala’s development. Earlier, urban affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu said that the Centre is considering Kerala government’s request for granting permission for extending Metro to Kakkanad. Projects like light metros in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode also is under active consideration by the Centre, Naidu said.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan who spoke after Naidu made it clear that there won’t be any tussle between the Centre and the state so far as the development of Kerala is concerned. “When the inauguration of Kochi Metro was planned, the state government had no doubts on who should commission the project. The project is a Centre-state initiative. The state cabinet unanimously decided that it would be none other than the Prime Minister,” Vijayan said.”There is no scope for any controversy on the issue. Now, those who were hoping for some controversies would be quite disappointed,” Pinarayi said.
