The Hindu : Front Page : Kochi likely to get a ‘mid-air’ city

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Thursday, Oct 11, 2007
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Kochi likely to get a ‘mid-air’ city

Special Correspondent

City-based firm submits project report of Rs. 500-crore ‘Sky City’

A 4-km bridge will be built 30 feet above land
It will have malls, hotels, hospitals, parking lots

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A Kochi-based company of architects and builders has submitted to the State government a Rs. 500-crore project called ‘Sky City,’ which it claims “can transform Kochi into a truly world-class metropolis.” The company made a presentation on the project to Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan at his office here on Wednesday.

The project envisages constructing a 4-km bridge from the National Highway bypass near Kundannoor, south-east of the city, to Subhash Chandra Bose Road in the north-west. The bridge will run through the city, 30 feet above the land and the backwaters, without touching the existing road system. It will contain three-storey shopping complexes, residential flats and commercial hubs, in addition to amusement centres, water-sports facilities, hotels and hospitals.

There will be a 12-metre-wide road for vehicular traffic on the flyover. The elevated highway will have car parking facilities, 5 metre wide on both sides, and also footpaths. And on either side of the highway will be commercial complexes spanning 6.6 metres. The design provides for additional car parking facilities on top of the building also. In all, there will be parking facilities for 7,500 cars in Sky City. Sale of commercial and residential space along the elevated transit system would be sufficient to pay off the loan, according to the project report by the company Yasoraminfra Developers Private Ltd..

A corpus would be generated for maintenance of the Sky City. Vehicles would be allowed toll-free passage. The promoters mean to fund the project through private equity and debt. There will be no financial liability for the government.

A major portion of the vehicles entering Kochi is for the purpose of shopping, according to the project report. The creation of additional shopping and commercial space on the Sky City will help divert a large portion of this traffic from M.G. Road and Broadway (currently the busiest centres in Kochi) towards the Sky City flyover. On completion of the project, the road and footpath would become the government’s property. Sky City’s 17-lakh-square-feet commercial space will generate employment for at least 17,000 people, the promoters said.

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