The government cannot run away from the responsibilities entrusted to an elected government, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.
After inaugurating 51 roads constructed as part of the 100-day action plan of the government, he said developing infrastructure was one of the primary responsibilities of a government. How could a government stay away from future infrastructure development of a State saying that some projects would court controversies, Mr. Vijayan asked?.
Had the Left Democratic Front government taken such a stance in 2016, the condition of national highways in the State would have been in a poor condition. Instead, the government agreed to provide land for development to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) by shouldering around 25% of the land cost when the entire price of land was borne out by the NHAI in neighbouring States.
The work on the waterway from Bekal to Kovalam was fast progressing like the national highway development. Regarding air travel, the State already had four airports and the government was committed to developing a fifth airport at Sabarimala and airstrips across the State to provide better connectivity to pilgrims and tourists, said Mr. Vijayan.
“In the case of Railways, Rajdhani Express, one of the fastest trains in the country, runs at a speed of normal trains in Kerala. It is not possible to increase the speed of trains in Kerala on the existing rail tracks. Against this backdrop, the government had decided to go ahead with a dedicated semi-high-speed rail project and was committed to executing the project for the future of the State,” he said.
The State had recently taken up the matter with the Prime Minister following a delay in granting final approval for the project and his response was encouraging, he said.
He also listed the issues the government had to face when it had gone ahead with the GAIL pipeline, City gas project, and the Edamon-Kochi power highway project. The successful completion of these projects after much resistance proved that the State was right in its direction,” Mr. Vijayan said.
