THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's immediate intervention to check soaring airfares and to reverse Railway Ministry's decision to abandon the proposed coaching terminal project at Nemom.
In a letter to the PM, Pinarayi said airline companies are charging exorbitant rates both in domestic and international sectors. This has badly hit the expatriates who are coming home after two years.
Pinarayi said that the fare hike is a big blow to entire society that is recovering from the misery caused by the pandemic. This will also hit Kerala's tourism sector, which is in crisis due to the prolonged shutdown. The CM requested the prime minister to immediately take steps to check the spiralling fares.
In another letter to Modi, the CM said the proposal for the coaching terminal at Nemom had a catalytic effect on rail development in Kerala. The importance of the project, which was announced in the 2011-12 union budget, was specially highlighted by the railway minister at the foundation stone-laying function in 2019. It was also promised that once the project is completed, the maintenance of the coaches will be completely shifted here, Pinarayi said.
The abandonment of the project has caused great difficulty to those who have given away their land for the terminal, Pinarayi said. He urged the prime minister to reverse the decision and take necessary steps to establish the project at the earliest.