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With Modi on stage, Vijayan shares example of meaningful Centre-state cooperation
PM Modi is in Kerala on a two-day visit. He dedicated to the nation various projects, including the Kochi Metro and laid foundation stones for the redevelopment of three stations in Kerala.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kerala chief minister and Communist leader Pinarayi Vijayan shared the stage at an event in Kochi where the latter felicitated the PM and shared an example of meaningful cooperation between the Centre and states.
Modi, who is in the southern state on a two-day visit, dedicated to the nation various projects, including the Kochi Metro and laid foundation stones for the redevelopment of three stations in Kerala.
Vijayan said Kerala needs valuable help from the Government of India in its efforts to decongest its road traffic. “Happy to inform you that the work of widening NH-66 is progressing at a very fast pace. This work is an example of meaningful cooperation between and the Union and state governments,” the chief minister said at one of the event where the Modi laid the foundation stone for Phase II of Kochi Metro and redevelopment of three stations – Ernakulam Junction, Ernakulam Town and Kollam.
The PM also inaugurated phase-1A, the first stretch from SN Junction to Vadakkekotta at the event. Governor Arif Muhammed Khan was also present at the event.
Modi arrived in Kochi at 4pm on Thursday. He inaugurated a 27-km double line of the Railways connecting Kuruppanthara–Kottayam Chingavanam sections completed at a cost of ₹750 crore.
The PM also dedicated to the nation the newly electrified section between Kollam–Punalur completed at a cost of ₹76 crore, which will boost eco-tourism besides serving as a faster and affordable means of transportation through the picturesque route and flagged off special train services between Kottayam-Ernakulam and Kollam–Punalur, a PTI report said.
Among the railway development projects for Kerala, Modi laid the foundation stone for three station redevelopment projects worth an estimated ₹1,059 crore.
The PM said the connectivity projects worth ₹4,500 crore would help improve ease of living and ease of doing business in the state. He further said that in the years before the BJP government came to power at the Centre, only 250km of metro network was in place in the entire country, while another 500km stretch has been added since then. He added work is going on to add another 1,000km to the expanding metro network.
Modi further said the Centre has invested lakhs of crores of rupees in Kerala that will not only help in infrastructure development, but also increase employment opportunities and boost agriculture and commerce.
The Left Front government in Kerala has alleged that the Centre is trying to hamper development in the state and push it into financial ruin by using the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to go after the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) and restrict the state's capacity to avail loans from the open market.
Modi said that the Centre is spending ₹55,000 crore on widening of the National Highway-66 to improve connectivity in the state and the doubling of the railway tracks in the Kuruppanthara-Kottayam-Chingavanam section has led to the entire 634 Km stretch from Thiruvananthapuram to Mangaluru in Karnataka becoming fully doubled. "It (doubling of the tracks) would lead to faster and seamless connectivity for the travelling public and especially the lakhs of devotees bound for Lord Ayyappa shrine in Sabarimala," the PM was quoted as saying in the PTI report.
