TIRUCHY: Even as the integrated bus terminus at Panjappur is likely to turn operational by the end of the month, residents continue to wait for metro rail connectivity in the city.
With such a project finding no mention even during state Minister for Finance Thangam Thennarasu’s pre-budget meeting with the Union finance minister, residents await the State Budget to learn the prospects of a Tiruchy Metro.
K Arumugam, an elderly resident of Thillai Nagar, said, “The CMRL team already visited Madurai. There were talks, mostly about the Coimbatore and Madurai metro projects, by state ministers. There is a need for clarity from the state government about our project though; it can make a mention of it in the upcoming budget.”
In an August 2024 response to an RTI filed by TNIE, the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) had confirmed that the Rs 10,917.64-crore metro project for Tiruchy was under the consideration of the state government. The mayor, during the corporation council meeting last month, cited the possible interruption to the “metro project works” for not taking up the construction of any new flyovers in the city to ease traffic woes. He, however, was silent about when the metro project would take off.
“Nobody knows when the metro project would commence in Tiruchy. Either the CMRL or the government should provide clarity on its status,” said L Vasanthakumari, a Union government official and resident of Puthur. When contacted, Minister for Municipal Administration KN Nehru told TNIE, “We have not dropped the Tiruchy Metro project. It is a need for our city, and I will soon take up the matter with the chief minister.”