The Kozhikode Monorail Project is completely investment-oriented and not people-oriented, environmentalist A. Achuthan has said. Speaking at a discussion on ‘Monorail: expectations and apprehensions’ organised by the Citizen’s Voice here on Wednesday, he said all tall claims made about its viability and environment-friendly nature were an eyewash. Citing the project report by the Kerala Monorail Corporation which said that around 1.48 lakh people would use monorail each day in 2015-16, he said even Mumbai, which had a population of 1.19 crore was expecting only 1.25 lakh people to use monorail each day. Fares The project report highlighted the fares that were equivalent to bus fares. But these would be hiked enormously in a year or two. The claims that 10 trees would be planted for every tree cut was to pacify environmentalists for the time being, Dr. Achuthan said. He said the cars of monorail would be too crowded with six people occupying a square foot. There was no mention in the report of the number of shops and buildings to be demolished. A lot of demolition and traffic congestion could be avoided if the monorail was not to be constructed over the busiest roads in the city, he said. The monorail was good for amusement as in Disney Land, but it was not viable good as a mode of public transport. Many countries that had built monorails were dismantling it now as it was not financially viable and consumed a lot of space, Dr. Achuthan said. Planning aspect Kozhikode did not need a monorail and the traffic problems of the city could be solved at a much lower expense with proper planning. The authorities should put a check on private vehicles on the roads. Junctions should be planned properly, bus bays constructed, and underground tunnels put in place, he said. Gandhian Thayat Balan, who inaugurated the discussion, said the State would be in huge debts if the project was executed. Environmentalist M.A. Johnson was the moderator. Rail Users’ Forum president C.V. Chakkunni and representatives of various residents’ associations were present.