They may be in different political camps sharing distinct ideologies, but that does not prevent Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and the BJP-led Government at the Centre from working together for the development of the State. This was in full display on Wednesday when Jayalalithaa, who shares a love-hate relation with the Centre in various issue thanked the Narendra Modi Government for the cooperation and assistance given to her State while the Union Government complimented the Chief Minister for her leadership and good work to make Tamil Nadu the numero uno State in India.
Those flying in and flying out of Chennai need not worry about the traffic jams which have been a bane of the metropolis till now as Wednesday saw Jayalalithaa inaugurating the Metro train services between Airport and little Mount in Chennai making it convenient for passengers to reach the Mofussil bus station at Koyembedu in less than 30 minutes.
Metro Rail travellers could reach little Mount from airport in four minutes compared to the 30 minutes journey by car. At little Mount, they can shift to the second metro which will take them to Mofussil in less than 20 minutes. The Chief Minister said that the day is not far off when passengers could reach the airport straight from the city.
The significance of the event could be understood from the fact that two Union Ministers, Union Minister for Urban Development, Information and Broadcasting M Venkaiah Naidu and Union Minister of State for Surface Transport Pon Radhakrishnan flew in to Chennai to be present for the inaugural service of the Metro Rail between little Mount and the airport.
The Chief Minister complimented both the Union Ministers and thanked them for the cooperation extended by the Centre under the leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the development of Tamil Nadu. “Anything associated with the Metro rail is a special day for me as it was during my tenure as Chief Minister, the proposal for Metro rail for Chennai was mooted and the detailed project report finalised. It is satisfying that the Metro rail service too was inaugurated by me,” said Jayalalithaa.
Venkiah Naidu said that with the opening of the metro line from little Mount to Airport on Wednesday, Chennai will have 19 kilometres of metro operational out of the total 45 kilometres of Chennai Metro Rail Project Phase 1. Naidu, who shares a good rapport with Jayalalithaa said: “One 4-car metro rake per trip is expected to remove 16 buses/300 cars/600 two wheelers from road. This not only reduces traffic congestion but also reduces pollution. The ridership at the completion of the Phase I of the Chennai Metro Rail Project is expected to be 7.75 lakhs per day. The Government of India have so far released about Rs10,000 crore for the Chennai Metro Phase-1 project.”
The Union Minister also said that the Prime Minister firmly believes that the Centre, along with the State Governments and the local bodies need to work together for the progress and development of the country. He said the mantra of Prime Minister Modi was ‘reform, perform and transform’ to develop a strong economy. “The Central Government is extending whole hearted support to the Tamil Nadu Government in implementing infrastructure and development projects. I would like to assure the State Government that the Centre is ready to walk an extra mile to help those affected by the recent floods especially the housing needs of the affected people,” said Naidu.