Thrust on development, says Sivakumar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Transport Minister V S Sivakumar, the lone Minister from the district in the Oommen Chandy Cabinet, has promised to spur on the ‘lagging’ development projects in the capital city by forging a consensus among political parties. Taking part in a meet-the-press programme, organised by the Kesari Memorial Journalists Trust here on Thursday, Sivakumar said that he would take all efforts to increase the allocation for Thiruvananthapuram in the next budget. The emphasis, he said, would be on developing the roads, cleaning the polluted Parvathi-Puthanar canal and expanding the drainage  network in the city. “Phase-II of the City Road Improvement Project (CRIP) will be completed in a time-bound manner. 42 km of roads are being taken up under it. The drainage network is only 27-per cent complete. This issue has to be looked into urgently. The idea is to develop Thiruvananthapuram into a world class city,” Sivakumar, who will officially take charge on Friday morning, said. The Minister said that he was planning to convene two meetings of all stakeholders to chart out an action plan for the city’s development. The second of the two meetings will also involve Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, he said.  Sivakumar said that emphasis would be placed on developing the Karamana-Kalayikkavila stretch of the National Highway. “It is a necessity. The other day, I left Trichy for Thiruvananthapuram via Nagercoil. Our pace slowed considerably once we reached Kalayikkavila. It’s obvious that the people are suffering. The issues pertaining to land acquisition would be sorted out through consensus,” he said.  Sivakumar said that he had already adopted several steps for the integral development of the city during his tenure as MP. Being the only Minister from the district, considerable hope is pinned on Sivakumar regarding long-pending projects such as the Vizhinjam seaport, High Court Bench and works covered under the Minister’s own porfolio, such as the Thampanoor Bus Terminal renovation and the proposed KSRTC station at Enchakkal, to name a few.