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Sky is the limit
Model project.
WHEN IT comes to grandiose schemes, there is no dearth in takers in Kochi. The latest is the `sky city' project whose protagonists have no doubt that the project can attain fruition within three years at a cost of a whopping Rs. 725 crores. Let us forget how the resources could be raised but it is glad to hear that people have not ceased to dream of restoring the status of `Queen of Arabian Sea' to Kochi.
First comes the long list of benefits the people here would enjoy once the project becomes operational. For once, the perpetual traffic blocks would be a thing of the past. The project is to come up from Thevara and to terminate at Edapally bypass of the National Highway. A high level meeting in the presence of the Minister for Local Self-Government, Cherkalam Abdulla, had already discussed the project and the Minister wanted the prime mover behind the project, a city-based architect, R.S. Vadhyar, to try out the same experiment in Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram too.
As the local MLA, the Fisheries Minister, K.V. Thomas, wanted Mr. Abdulla to give in principle clearance for the project, and according to Government sources, the latter readily obliged. The project is literally in the air, to be precise 30 ft above the ground and would give a panoramic view and hence there would be enough to attract tourists.
Now to the claims: Once the sky city is completed, it would be the first of its kind in Asia. The flyover would pass through areas where there are no tall buildings and would have 8.5 km length and a width of 38 metres. There will be facility for vehicle parking on both sides of the flyover, besides ample sidewalks. In three storeys, there would be enough room to house hospitals, shops, offices, eating places, educational institutions et al. These aerial pathway can be accessed from other roads of the city and people can also climb up the stairs to reach the flyover, says the prime movers of the project. The space under the flyover could be converted as godowns and auditoria. There will be state-of-the-art provision for waste removal and provision for water supply, electricity, telephone and other utility lines underneath the flyover through separate ducts. There will never be any need to dig the roads once they are laid, claims the project dreamers. When the sky bus is run on these flyovers at a height of 30 feet, the view would be panoramic, as Kochi is blessed with backwaters and lush green scenery.
However, to be charitable to the project movers, one has to say that they have dared to dream really big. The investment cost can be retrieved by selling the buildings and godowns once the project is completed. The Government need not spend a paisa for this `heaven born' project and take all the credit too. Hence it is in the fitness of things that the Local Administration Minister gave the orders to the officials to see that the project is materialised (to terra firma?) as early as possible.
By K. Venkiteswaran
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Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
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