The Tamil Nadu government, along with Southern Railway, will carry out a feasibility study for the introduction of air-conditioned coaches and coaches with facilities, as preferred by commuters, in the Chennai suburban trains, especially those running from the Beach to Chengalpattu.
Announcing this in the Assembly, Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, who also handles the portfolio of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, said the government would continue to take steps for securing the Union government’s approval for the proposal of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) taking over the operation and maintenance of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) from Southern Railway.
Studies would be conducted for the extension of Corridor 3, to be formed under Phase II of the Chennai Metro Rail Project, from Siruseri to Kelambakkam and from Kelambakkam to the Kilambakkam bus terminus through Mambakkam and Vandalur. This would link the National Highways 45 with the Old Mamallapuram Road. Similar exercises would be carried out to cover the Poonnamallee bypass-Sriperumpudur stretch (as part of the extension of Corridor 4) and Thirumangalam-Avadi (Corridor 5).
The Planning and Development Department and the United Nations Development Programme would form a coordination centre to institutionalise the sustainable development goals in all the departments.
Earlier, initiating the debate on the demand for grants for his department, the Minister said his department, in partnership with GIZ (of Germany), was developing an urban indicator framework (UIF), aimed at improved data collection, implementation, effective monitoring and reporting of sustainable development goals from urban areas. The department, GIZ and the Urban Habitat Development Board were finalising a Resettlement Indicator Framework with the aim of monitoring the reach of essential services in urban resettlements.
The detailed project report for the first phase of the Coimbatore MRTS would be presented to the government shortly. The feasibility report for the Madurai MRTS was expected by the end of this month. The preliminary work was under way for the 11th Agriculture Census with 2020-21 as the reference period, and phase I of the census would be taken up in July, the Minister added.
