TIRUNELVELI: Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagenthran on Thursday alleged that the State government had deliberately sent a flawed report on the Coimbatore and Madurai metro rail projects to the Centre, leading to its return.
Speaking to reporters at the BJP’s Tirunelveli district office, he claimed that the Detailed Project Report (DPR) was prepared in a manner that appeared aimed at blocking metro connectivity for Coimbatore, whose residents had voted for the AIADMK.
He also questioned why Chief Minister M K Stalin, who had previously spoken about bringing metro rail to Tirunelveli in the DMK’s election manifesto, has now avoided commenting on the matter.
“The Centre has not rejected the metro project. It has only returned the report for corrections. The same happened in BJP-ruled states also. The State sent contradictory figures, including showing a two- to three-minute travel-time difference between metro and other modes of travel. While a metro station needs 22m width, the State said in its report that only 10 to 12m wide space is available. Instead of mentioning the current population of the Tamil Nadu cities, the State has given the 2011 population in the report. Apart from this, it has stated that several pieces of infrastructure have to be demolished for the project and that the project is expensive,” he alleged.
Nagenthran further questioned the timing of the DMK’s protest on the issue. “The Chief Minister should explain why he did not respond to the Centre’s letter dated November 14 on the same day.
The ruling party is raising this issue to divert Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s launch of an 18,000-crore scheme in Coimbatore for farmers across the country,” he said. He asserted that metro rail services for Coimbatore would be announced by June 2026.
The BJP leader also criticised the State government over what he alleged were rising incidents of crime, drug trafficking and sexual offences. He said murders and robberies had increased, adding that many murders were reported in a short span of time.
Nagenthran said people were burdened by increased power tariffs and higher building approval charges, and criticised the State for not providing adequate equipment for sanitation workers.