New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Union government’s rejection of proposed metro rail projects for Coimbatore and Madurai.

In his letter to the prime minister Stalin has also countered the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs’ (MoHUA) stated reasons for the rejection and expressed his disappointment and anguish” over the move. He has urged a reconsideration of the decision, reported New Indian Express.

The Tamil Nadu chief minister said in his letter to Modi that he has directed the Department of Special Initiatives to submit detailed justifications on MoHUA’s concerns.

“If necessary, I am ready to meet you in Delhi with my team to explain the issues in detail,” said Stalin.

Stalin added that the rejection has created “deep resentment among the people of the two cities that their deserving needs have been rejected, as compared to similar projects sanctioned in other states.

Stalin has said that the reasons cited by the MoHUA in its letter to the state for rejecting the proposals, were not appropriate.

On the population criterion, Stalin said while the ministry cited the Metro Rail Policy 2017’s requirement of 2 million population, this threshold was surpassed by Coimbatore’s Local Planning Area way back in 2011 and Madurai is also likely to have crossed it now.

Terming the development as selective application of the criteria, Stalin said that “if this 2 million criteria had been applied uniformly, many metros in tier-II cities like Agra, Indore and Patna may not have materialised.”

“Selective application of this criterion to our proposal has created an impression of discrimination against our cities,” said Stalin in his letter.

He also rejected the MoHUA’s argument on ridership concerns and comparison with Chennai, saying that it was “not appropriate since ridership depends upon multiple factors.”

“Further, the DPR studies have made subsequent independent assessments of traffic projections, which justified the need for metro rail corridors,” said Stalin.

Stalin said that Tamil Nadu, “being the most urbanised state in India with a high per-capita private vehicle ownership, needs high-capacity public transport alternatives in all its large growth engine cities.”

“Since these two projects involve the aspirations of the industrial and cultural hubs of TN, I look forward to your personal intervention in this issue,” Stalin said in his letter to Modi.

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