COIMBATORE: Around 30 Marumalarchi Makkal Iyakkam members, led by its founder V Eswaran, held a protest here on Monday to condemn the Union govt’s denial of approval for the Coimbatore metro rail project. When the protesters tried to besiege the income tax office here, police detained them. Later, they were released. The central govt has reportedly returned the proposal for the Coimbatore metro rail again, citing population and projected travel-time considerations. In Nov 2025, the Centre rejected the proposal for metro rails in Coimbatore and Madurai. In May this year, the state govt wrote to the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA), justifying the need for metro rail projects in Coimbatore and Madurai. A few days ago, in its return communication to the state, the MoHUA again declined the proposals. Instead, it recommended a bus rapid transit system. Speaking to reporters, Easwaran said metro rails were announced for 21 cities in 2011, with Coimbatore and Kochi placed 16th and 17th, respectively. While metro services had since been introduced in cities like Kochi, Patna and Agra, Coimbatore was yet to receive even the centre’s approval, he said. “BJP promised a metro rail project for Coimbatore in its 2024 election manifesto. The then BJP MLA, Vanathi Srinivasan, said the city would get a metro if NDA came to power. However, the project has now been denied because BJP did not win here,” Easwaran alleged. “Does this mean Coimbatore will get metro rail only if BJP wins and that the project will be denied if another party wins? We strongly condemn this discriminatory approach,” he said. Eswaran accused the Union govt of using tax revenue collected from the residents here to develop other cities while neglecting Coimbatore. He said the organisation would show black flags to every Union minister visiting Coimbatore and hold a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. Easwaran said, “The Tamil Nadu chief minister has not yet commented on this issue. The CM should condemn the Prime Minister and Union ministers over the denial of the metro project.”
