Metro: CM plays down Gowda’s remarks

Metro: CM plays down Gowda’s remarks
Deccan Herald

Mr Dharam Singh said a decision on the project was taken to turn Bangalore into a high-tech city and that alternative transport arrangements will be made.

Chief Minister N Dharam Singh on Saturday sought to play down former prime minister H D Deve Gowda’s letter to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh raising objections to the proposed metro rail project.

He also declared that the ambitious project, which is likely to ease traffic congestion, with its capacity to ferry 60 lakh people each day, would be pursued in right earnest.

“He may have written to the Prime Minister urging him to abandon the metro rail project, owing to pressure from those who might be ‘affected’ by the proposed project,” he told reporters before his departure to Koppal from the City on Saturday.

He said he had ordered to work out the financial aspects of the rail project. In his letter to the PM, Mr Gowda had stated that the metro project would involve huge financial wastage and would therefore not be viable.

The chief minister said the government had taken a decision to transform Bangalore into a high-tech city under the stewardship of Bangalore Development Authority and the metro rail project was a part of this plan.

Dharam Singh rebuffed media reports that IT companies were fleeing Bangalore due to infrastructure bottlenecks. “I have held meetings with IT bigwigs and they have some genuine complaints with regard to infrastructure bottlenecks. But, reports that IT companies are abandoning Bangalore for these reasons are baseless,” he added.