The Hijacked City
A couple of months back, Kerala’s leading news channel came up with this one piece about a series of snatch n run incidents in the state.
It was about the consistant confiscation of the major investment projects from Trivandrum to be relocated elsewhere. Not that it was an almighty scoop or eye-opener for anyone but a reality address of what has been going on behind the screen when a big project is announced for Trivandrum.
Makes sense?
No bickering, patriotism or attempt to spew petty regionalism but an honest portrayal of the indecent proposition the city has received over time.
Latest, the Railway Medical College which was proposed in in the 2009 Rail Budget and promised to Pettah, Trivandrum is now heard to be coming up in Ernakulam. The reason given by the authorities is that they were unable to locate suitable land for the project! Railways needed just 35 acres of land, and amazingly it is unavailable in Trivandrum! (??)
It’s a big joke when you think that this same old, odd reason is being flung up everytime a project is taken out of the city or district. Makes a cow laugh, and it’s a contingent querry as to where all the 2192 sq.km of terrain vanishes from our Revenue Dept archives when specifically dealing with investment issues for Trivandrum.
The Railway Medical College is the last of a pretty long list dating back to the formation of State. It’s no surprise for any resident of the city that this has been happening, in fact it is a big surprise if a proposed project gets realized in Trivandrum battling its way out through the political/ bureaucratic labrynths with trapholes in every step aiming to skulk or skyjack the file.
How many of us are aware of the fact that the Kerala Agricultural University was originally proposed to be attached to the Vellayani Agricultural College but later ended up in Trichur. The step-motherly treatment began a good way back with the condescending State Govts never bothering a damn about raising the infrastructural amenities of the city to suit a state capital. Trivandrum’s main thoroughfares are being developed only now, 60 years after the formation of the state. Whose job was that, and what does that tell you?
A pleothra of projects deemed for Trivandrum ended up at all nook and corners of the State. Sonia Gandhi announced that a Textile Park in Kannur and NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology) in Trivandrum but both ended up in Kannur. The National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS) which had Trivandrum as its headquarters when envisaged, magically changed to Ernakulam at the stroke of a pen. Same with Legal Services Authority which was relocated overnight, but thankfully back home now. The expansion of Pallipuram CRPF Camp is happening nearly 500km North, in Kannur, because apparently no land could be identified for the expansion, lol. And now Technocity is coming up on 700-odd acres shouldering the CRPF Camp, wonder where the land sprung up all of a sudden… Parasuram?
The recent tug-of-war for the Center of Excellence in Psychiatry is another example of this burglery, if not for Shashi Tharoor now it would’ve been in Calicut.
But why just Trivandrum? And it is important that we clarify that we are not in the way of other developments in the state but just demanding that we receive the fair share of the investments, in a democratic way.
I’m forced to conclude that the spineless and disinterested leaders we’ve chosen to represent us in the Assembly and New Delhi share the credits. Accept it, other ministers had more interest in their regions than our own representatives, and they successfully managed to pump in more into their constituencies at the expense of Trivandrum. K.V. Thomas managed to plagiarize the Hospitality Management Institute to Malayattor (initially it was proposed in Kovalam, associated with KITTS) and then got the Biotechnology Park to his constituency which was originally planned in Thumba. Makes a lot of sense doesn’t it, when you think that top Biotech institutes of the state are located in Trivandrum? M.A.Shanavas almost managed to get the Sree Chithra Institute expansion to Waynad because apparently there was no land in Trivandrum! I heard the same story when the Air India Hangar was lured out from here, but public anger and protest brought it back to the city. The plagiarizers also tried their hand at Habitat Centre proposed in Kowdiar, its still not off the ground after over a decade.
Trivandrumites were also taken for a ride in the name of an International Cricket Stadium in Muttathara which has changed location to Edakochi. And the lack of a dedicated stadium also appear to cost Trivandrum its own IPL Team promoted by the city-duo Mohanlal-Priyadarshan. And now Govt is playing the fool with Brahmos, with the old no-land tale again, and God forbid it wo’nt end up in Mahendagiri like the LPSC Centre did.
A simple example of how one plagiarism leads to spill-over losses… The educational institutes which Trivandrum lost, if had been established here instead of getting scattered, would’ve immensely helped build the Trivandrum brand internationally, from the education and R&D hub which it is even now. No loss has been as glaring as the IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), which the whole state missed out because some people didn’t like the idea of Trivandrum being shortlisted for it.
Not to mention the virtual Take Deviation board at Technopark, Trivandrum’s engine of growth. Many a companies were advised other locales in the state when they were specifically looking for Trivandrum, of which Satyam created a furor out of it. Gulfar had big plans for Technopark during its nascent stages but was roped away as initial investors for Hi-tech Park (now Infopark). Similarly L&T’s request for a chunk of land for their IT Park was reported in all dailies but mysteriously they too got displaced. Awesome!
Its not only grab n run, but Trivandrum has been forced to stand out of the way for
Vizhinjam: Blessed with natural depth and human resource. Why we are delaying it?
similar ventures in the state to prosper. Do I need to tell a better example than Vizhinjam? It has taken years for the realization of Terminal 3 at Trivandrum Int’l Airport, even now the State govt hasn’t done much to acquire the land needed for the next phases of the new Terminal.
But is politics the only reason behind all this? The citizens, including you and me also contributed to this. Happy to be in the shell, there were no voices raised against the plaigrism. Only when the ministers were threatened that they’d be blocked on the roads that the Capital Road Development Project was initiated by A.K. Antony. Some mediahouses were also accused to be on the forefront to make sure that the city had a significant weight attached to its leg. Local press hardly bothered their ink to print out this matter, so the undercover agents had smooth sailing most times.
But the internet boom and the activities of a few NGO Groups like the Resident’s Associations and more importantly TDF (Trivandrum Development Front) , have managed to increase awareness and plug the leak. Lately, the involvement of Shashi Tharoor who has no strings attached to work and fight for Trivandrum has given the above mentioned groups more hope and strength. But as Trivandrumites it is about time that we stood up and shouted, “Enough! We deserve better!”.
We have the platforms now, so when we make noise we better make sure that the decibels are there…it matters…
Click here for the video from Asianet.
Image Credits: Vizhinjam
You might also like
|
|
|
|
|
Author: scorpiogenius (4 Articles)
scorpio, but far from a genius. XY chromosomal, travel addict, media-holic, big-city maniac, fun loving and absent minded. That's me in a nutshell! :)
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
- uberVU - social comments - Social comments and analytics for this post... This post was mentioned on Twitter by srijithv: RT @TvmLife The Hijacked City http://bit.ly/cv1MyN...
Loading ...
A true story of a painful city. yes indeed many of the facts are well said in the above article.We need a change and we deserve it
In the begining we lost kanyakumari district.Really it was a conspiracy by vested intrests.then High Court bench.then IIM and finally medical university.we are enjoying the mass rally of keralaities blocking all the primary and essential need of trivandrmites
We need more ‘educated’ politicians like Tharoor.
It’s not only about education but also the leader with the right attitude and vision. What Trivandrum needs is more leaders like Tharoor who’re honest and committed to the people of their constituency.
I heard a story of a former MP of ours from very dependable sources who works for the city. When they went to speak to our former MP about pushing for Vizhinjam in the Parliament his reply was: “Oh! We got permission for Vallarpadom after long negotiations, so let’s wait until it is commissioned and then we will think about Vizhinjam”. It’s not that anyone is against development in other parts of the state but that MP of Trivandrum was letting down his own people who voted him to power. He was heeding his ears to the words of the distractors by violating the trust Trivandrumites rested on him. This has been the history for long…
So there is like absolutely No way we can voice to help trivandrum win what is rightfully its own? I mean, there should be…
If this issue gets more light, I’m sure we’ll have a lot of intelligent volunteers to protest n make things run the way it should.
I agree we need more leaders who are committed to their constituency.
being a true thironthoramkaarann, it was truly saddening to hear abt all those leaked projects..
wantng to hear some gud news now..ny worthy projects to look forward to??
Its really easy to bring all these things back to trivandrum…………
the ways are
(1) the ego complex and lobbying of kochi pricks should end.
or else
(2)Pray that some one on this land with devils own people would burst a fire cracker ( even a 1re fire cracker) near mulla periyar.
i second! we need some educated politicians… but does that solve the matter??