Oommen Chandy, former chief minister of Kerala who passed away recently, was elected to Kerala legislative Assembly for the first time from Puthuppally constituency in 1970, was known for his massive popularity. Chandy, who served the Kerala Assembly over 12 terms, is credited with initiating several big ticket infrastructure projects in the state.
He is also known for people centric-policies and mass contact programmes to solve grievances of people by cutting short bureaucratic delays. He served as the Chief Minister of the state for two terms, first for two years in 2004-06 and in 2011-16. His government had Vikasanavum Karuthalum (Development and care) and Athivegam Bahudooram (Greater the speed, greater the distance) as its motto. It was he who introduced unemployment allowance in Kerala in 1977, when he was the labour minister. When he was the home minister in 1981, he modernised the police uniforms, changing the apparel from shorts to full pants.
Here are some big infrastructure projects in the state which bear Oommen Chandy´s signature:
The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Kochi Metro rail was submitted during the tenure of Oommen Chandy in 2005. Since his tenure ended in a year the work did not see much progress. In 2011, during his next tenure, he convinced Delhi CM Sheila Dixit, who first opposed the involvement of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and 'Metro Man' E Sreedharan in the project. A major part of the work on Kochi Metro was done during his regime. But when the project was inaugurated in 2017, he was not an official invitee.
The proposal for the Rs 7,525 crore Vizhinjam seaport project progressed fast after the Chandy government came to power in 2011. The state government reached an agreement with Adani group, which was the lone bidder, in 2015, when Chandy was the Chief Minister. The agreement was controversial and resulted in a judicial probe. Chandy was however given a clean chit in 2019 by CN Ramachandran Commission which probed the deal. The project under a public-private partnership (PPP) model on a Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis was to be completed in 1000 days since the inking of the agreement but has faced delays. Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited recently informed that the project would be completed in December 2024, despite the Kerala government claiming that the first ship would be anchored at Vizhinjam in September this year.
The 444-km long natural gas pipeline project was initiated in 2009 at an estimated cost of Rs 2,915 crore. The first phase of the project was commissioned in August 2013 in the Kochi metropolitan area during the tenure of Oommen Chandy as Chief Minister. Most land acquisition and other works were also done during his period. But the project was completed only in 2020 after Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government took an initiative.
Though Kannur airport was first announced in 1996, it was in 2004 when Oommen Chandy was the Chief Minister that the 192 acres for the airport was acquired and many crucial development works of the project were carried out. The first landing trial happened in April 2016. A political row erupted when the Kannur International Airport Ltd was finally inaugurated in 2018, when Pinarayi Vijayan was the Chief Minister as Congress alleged attempts to trivialise the contribution made by Oommen Chandy, who was not invited to the event.
It was PK Kunhalikutty, the Industries Minister in AK Antony cabinet in 2004, who first proposed the Smart City project. When Oommen Chandy took charge as Chief Minister, he brought Dubai Internet City officials to Kerala for a study. An agreement was signed between Dubai Holding group and the state government in 2005. The phase-1 of the project was inaugurated in 2016 during Oommen Chandyś second tenure.