The amazing consistency in which Keralaites kill off the geese with golden eggs baffles me. In a land where industrial productivity is close to the null factor, any trickle of investments cropping up are destined to vaporize in a matter of months.
Kerala, perhaps will be the state with the maximum no of paper tigers in the shape of investment proposals. All of them either condemned to be still born or subject to an eternal gestation period. Here is the roll...
Project: Smart City
Conceived: 2004
Location: Cochin
Type: IT Park
Job opportunities: 90,000
Area: 400 acres
Developer: TECOM, Dubai
Status: Dead
Credits: the cat n mouse game and groupism in the current LDF Govt.
Tagline: It is getting clearer that this is a case of the fence stealing its own produce. The whole blame lies on the Chief Minister and his handling of the IT Dept. It was all mumbo-jumbo all the way down and the sheikhs have packed their bags, for good. Pinarayi won, Achumama lost, but whose loss is it eventually?? The other Smart City in Malta is well on way to completion. Did I hear the R-word?
Project: TechnocityConceived: 2003
Location: Trivandrum
Type: IT Park
Job opportunities: 2,00,000
Area: 500 acres
Developer: nobody
Status: on paper for the past 5 years. Land acquisition still not over.
Credits: Efficiency of IT Dept headed by the inutile CM. Not able to pool the land even after 3 long years.
Tagline: ok, blame it on the recession, but where is the land for development? No infrastructure constructed yet, and the Govt still haven't a clue about the no: of families which need to be evicted.
Project: Vizhinjam Port
Conceived: 1960
Location: Trivandrum
Type: Port project
Area: 2000 acres
Job opportunities: 2,00,000
Developer: This project has the unique credits of 2 developers embroiled in a cat fight for the construction rights. We all knew where this was heading, didn't we?
Status: Almost dead, awaiting resuscitation
Credits: The regional foulplays, filthy lobbying and legal-bureaucratic tangles.
Tagline: The worst debacle of them all...the latest casualty... The horoscope-changing project is all in doldrums now, courtesy some vested, regionalistic business interests. The project seems on its way back to the drawing board, and a huge whip to the development ambitions of Trivandrum and Kerala. This mentality of "only in my backyard" has virtually strangled a landmark project.
Project: Cochin Metro
Conceived: 2004
Location: Cochin
Type: Transport Infrastructure
Job opportunities: 1000
Developer: Unknown
Status: runs on paper, still no idea as to how the project is going to be implemented
Credits: Policymakers, NIMBY-ism along the proposed corridors
Tagline: No one appears to be sure what to do with this one. Files are flying between offices and by the time they settle it may well be 2020. As for Cochin, suffer for a few more years on the roads, that looks to be the fate.
Project: Kannur International Airport
Conceived: 2000
Location: Kannur
Type: Transport Infrastructure
Job opportunities: 2000
Developer: Not finalised
Status: vigorous paperworks undergoing. hopes to be stillborn sometime next decade.
Credits: thoughtful planners, politicians and associated real estate barons.
Tagline: Who is serious about this one when you have another Int'l airport barely 70 km south? Oh, when we are talking about paper tigers lets talk about Jumbo ones, shan't we?
Project: National Highway DevelopmentConceived: 1990s
Location: pan-Kerala
Type: Infrastructure development
Developer: Govt of India
Status: no sign of labour pain
Credits: The current CPM led Govt and their moth-eaten ideologies.
Tagline: When the whole nation was marching ahead with the Centrally sponsored project, Kerala commited the heinous act of wasting 2 precious years 'discussing' the toll-issue. A few 'policy' issues are yet to be sorted out. God save the commuters!
Project: Kerala Expressway Project
Conceived: 2000
Location: All Kerala
Type: Transport Infrastructure
Developer: hahahahahaaaaaa
Status: Project included in the PWD website, for a start.
Credits: a couple of leading dailies, political foulplay, poor marketing techniques, myopic administration and the infamous mallu skepticism
Tagline: Now there are talks about a North-South Road, not an expressway. It will be access controlled and 60m wide. Perhaps if you call a crow a swan its colour may change? How very communist-ic.. :chuckle:
Project: IIT
Conceived: 1990s
Location: not finalised
Area: 500-1000 acres
Type: Education & Research
Developer: Govt. of India
Status: vapourised
Credits: indecision on location, inefficiency of Govt
Tagline: Kerala featured in the primary list of possible locations a few years back. Again the regionalistic differences torpedoed another conerstone development, and the IITs proposed along with ours have started functioning. Lets hit the sack, comfy...
All this in a world where markets are evolving into highly competitive ones and moving towards the goal of self-sustainability. We toil for a better today so that our children could work, play and live in this beautiful land.. The question is how many generations could we afford to destroy?
This whole list made for such sad reading... Am left wondering if there's any project that is still on its course as a ray of hope for us..
ReplyDeleteIf atleast 2 of the projects mentioned had taken wings, Kerala wud've been a different place...especially Vizhinjam..
ditto...made for some sad reading.Each govt makes sure that whatever good initiatives the previous govt did has to be shelved. If you look at teh smart city, the current govt sweated it out to ensure that the smart city shouldn't materialize in the previous govt's rule.It did succeed..but the point is whose success is it anyway? Well technocity is something I have been hearing about since ages..all these leaves no other options than to leave the state for employment for a keralite..sad.
ReplyDeleteit happens only in kerala..
ReplyDelete@ Praveen, its melancholic to note how Keralites themselves have pulled the plug for Vizhinjam! Huh, we live in pretty indecent times man, or could we say we are hpoing for a ray of light thats never going to come?
ReplyDelete@ Rohit, yeah our biggest exports have always been "people". I promise you, you will be hearing about more such "cities" in near future and you still wont see them out of paper.
@ Nishanth, you mean "it doesnt happen only in Kerala", no? lol...
A great post. I sincerely hope somebody sees it. It is all about poor politics and nothing else. Elsewhere in India rulers try to make it felt in such matters, no matter however corrupted they may be. The problem with us Keralites is that we are also (like our leaders) too much interested in dirty politics and do not care about such necessities when needed, and listen to their braggings, accusations, and foul plays, instead of ignoring them and rebuffing such words and deeds.
ReplyDeleteKerala obviously has a lot of strong points. instead of the polluting manufacturing industry, it can promote IT, biotech, medicine, services, tourism industry etc.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, i have no sympathy for a population that votes for communists. Maybe the people of Kerala deserve the kind of pathetic govt they have got.
.. and despite none of these projects seeing the lights , most probably there is a mini vizhinjam port in Pinarayi's house and mini kannur airport in Chennithala's house and mini metro in Murali's estate. But not to worry , in 20 -30 years , Kerala will be the best place in the world to live in - the greenest coz there has been no new construction or industries , wealthiest coz all the poor /middleclass would have migrated elsewhere the only ones remaining will be the rich n politicians , the most secure because there will be no police and efficient security will be provided by the quotation gangs ..
ReplyDelete.. and despite none of these project seeing the light of the day , am sure there is already a mini vizhinjam port in Pinarayi's house , a mini Expressway in Chennithala's estate , a mini Kannur airport in Kodiyeris house etc. Anyway I think our worries are mis founded coz if we go this way Kerala will be the most habitable place on earth in 20-30 years - the greenest coz of no new industries or construction - the wealthiest coz the poor/middle class wud have migrated to places with jobs and the rest would have formed quotation gangs or political parties , so only the rich and the politicians will remains - the safest coz police wud be redundant and efficient security will be provided by the quotation groups. So I think we shud just relax and put a large.
ReplyDeleteWe are left with nothing but the 'left'.
ReplyDeleteThey make noise about any new project and then they inaugurate it.
I remember Achumamma coming to technopark to inaugurate the new building Tejaswani and he said "Our Government started all this"
The crowd laughed.
Calling the expressway North south road is excellent.
i was actually very sad after reading the post...just thinking of the lost oppurtunities...when will have a new generation of leaders who can think sensibly and work for the benefit of the people than the party..
ReplyDeleteI think that building a expressway from Kannur to Calicut would take away the need for Kannur Airport.
ReplyDeletefirst time at ur post...
ReplyDeletegood lord.. were there these many projects hanging underway in kerala? never realised..
of course the vizhinjam port has become the joke of the decade. smart city and techno city are lying stranded in place. cochin metro is something desperately needed as far as the congested roads are concerned, but as u said, it may not even see light of day by 2020.
as for the kannur int'l airport and national highway development, dont even go there..!