Kochi: Metroman E Sreedharan on Thursday broke his silence over the pull-out of the DMRC from the light metro project. There was no lapse on part of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), he said at a press conference held in Kochi on Thursday, adding that it was the state government's mismanagement that forced the DMRC to pull out of the project.

He pointed out that the state government is yet to sign the agreement with DMRC despite submitting it 15 months ago. Though the chief minister had said that he would sort out all the issues, no measures have been taken in this regard, he said.

The state government was informed that it would take at least two years for the central approval to come. The state government accepted DMRC advice that preparatory works can be started. The government asked us to carry out the preparatory works. In December 2016, we submitted a draft agreement to the government. Fifteen months have passed; neither the contract has been signed nor the work has started, he said.

Running DMRC offices itself costs Rs 16 lakh a month. Though he had met the chief minister and the public works minister several times, nothing came out of the visits. The chief minister repeated that everything will be sorted out, but nothing has been done so far, Sreedharan said.

Before the decision to pull out from the project was taken, he had sought permission in vain to meet the chief minister. The pull-out was aimed at protecting DMRC's financial interests. Sreedharan also revealed that there was an attempt to throw out DMRC without any prior notice.

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