Kerala - Kochi   

Metro rail to usher in road development

KOCHI: The proposed elevated light metro rail for Kochi will hasten the process of widening narrow roads and also give an impetus to the construction of flyovers in the city.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which prepared the detailed project report for the venture, has cited the need to temporarily barricade an eight-metre width on roads along which rails would run. The proposed 25-km line will connect Aluva with Pettah and passes through Kaloor, Madhava Pharmacy Junction, M.G. Road and Sahodaran Ayyappan Road.

The barricades will be removed once the pillars are built and the rail lines laid, following which the portion except that occupied by pillars, will be re-opened to traffic. A Revenue official said that the DMRC has cited the need to widen narrow roads. Flyovers have been suggested at Pullepady, Edapally, Palarivattom, Kaloor, Madhava Pharmacy Junction, Kadavanthra and Vytilla. The project will be commissioned three years after work begins.

“Major widening work will have to be done at Lissie Junction; the narrow stretch between the Ernakulam Town Hall and Madhava Pharmacy Junction; the by-road connecting M.G. Road with Government Girls’ High School Junction; Valanjambalam Junction and the road connecting Vytilla with Pettah,” he said.

A team of officials from the DMRC and the Revenue Department are likely to conduct a joint inspection of the route on Friday and Saturday, to ascertain the area of land that will have to be acquired and the exact location of stations that have been planned every kilometre.

They will also collect details such as the survey number of the lands that have to be acquired and release a promulgation for land acquisition.

“The project report prepared in 2005 needs more clarity and timely revision. For example, the project report has mentioned stations near Elamkulam Fathima Matha Church and at Elamkulam, which are one and the same. This will mean that land for a new stop will have to be found somewhere at Vytilla Janatha. Similarly, land belonging to the KSEB at Thykoodam (where a station has been planned) is mentioned as ‘vacant land’. This is not the case now, as the Board has readied the land for construction,” sources said.

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