Kirron sticks to her guns

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 28

Though the UT Administration is pushing for the Metro project, city MP Kirron Kher once again said that the project was not feasible for the city.

During an interaction with mediapersons at Sector 27 here today, Kher said for a city like Chandigarh with a population of 11 lakh, the Metro project would not be viable. “Instead of Metro, the UT Administration should construct underpasses and flyovers in the city. For flyovers, I will also push for relaxation in rules before the UT Heritage Committee,” Kher said.

During the Administrator’s Advisory Council (AAC) meeting last year, she had stated that Metro project for a city like Chandigarh was not commercially feasible.

Besides the Metro project, Kher had also stated that the formation of the metropolitan council was a failed idea, therefore, it was not in the interest of Chandigarh. On the demand of a separate assembly for Chandigarh, Kher said the city was too small to have a separate assembly. Kher also highlighted her performance in the past one year as an MP.

The Metro project, which requires an investment of more than Rs 10,000 crore in the tricity, has been stuck up for years due to a shortage of funds.

A draft MoU, which was to be signed by Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana for the construction of infrastructure for the Metro in the tricity in a phased manner, was first sent by the Urban Development Ministry in June, 2013. In its recent letter to the Centre, the Administration has stressed that the experience of private-public partnership in such projects, be it in Delhi or elsewhere, has not been very encouraging because private investors look for profit within a few years, which a public transport project cannot offer.