Title - IAS lobby bid to derail Metro Man

The IAS lobby in Kerala is having heart-burns over former Metro Man E. Sreedharan being placed at the helm of the ambitious Kochi metro rail project.Government sources said that when the Kochi metro rail, the Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram mono rail and the high speed rail corridor between Mangalore and Thiruvananthapuram are set to change the face of the state, an IAS lobby led by Cochin Metro Railway Ltd MD Tom Jose is trying to “mislead” the government.The others in the lobby are chief minister Oommen Chandy’s principal secretary Dinesh Sharma, public works principal secretary V.P. Joy and transport principal secretary Elias George. But, when DC got in touch with these officials, they categorically denied the allegation.This, the sources say, has led Chandy to reconstitute the screening committee with PWD secretary P.H. Kurian as its chairman and PWD principal secretary V.P. Joy as its member, quashing the earlier committee of Tom Jose, Dinesh Sharma, Elias George and industries and commerce additional chief secretary V. Somasundaran.Sources say the IAS lobby wants the government to go for a global tender so that, in the least, the projects can be delayed further.Incidentally, at a seminar convened by the Thalasthana Vikasana Council on Sunday, Sreedharan criticised successive state governments for the seven-year delay in getting the Kochi metro rail project approved. Meanwhile, the file on the Thiruvananthapuram mono rail has been sent back to the PWD ministry yet again on Friday from the finance department with allegedly ‘unwanted’ queries. When Sreedharan submitted the Detailed Project Report (DPR) on Kozhikode mono rail to the CM on 19 June, Chandy said his cabinet would approve the DMRC proposal for Thiruvananthapuram too, but it is still on hold.

Chandy was keen on giving the turnkey project to DMRC due to its expertise in the field with Sreedharan being a Malayali at the helm.