Metro rail to speed up development in Kochi
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It will add a whole new dimension to the growth of Kerala’s commercial heartland.
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The green signal for the Kochi metro rail project from the Planning Commission has breathed new life into a project that threatened to sink without a ripple. It has opened up a new chapter in infrastructure development in Kerala.
Though several questions remain regarding its implementation, they are entirely different from the fact that the project will add a whole new dimension to the growth and spread of Kerala’s commercial heartland.
Land acquisition
The 25.25-km metro rail project between Aluva and Thripunithura will face its stiffest challenge in land acquisition.
The State government machinery will have to be geared to meet this challenge like never before to avoid any delay and subsequent cost overruns.
According to government reports, the Aluva-(Pettah) Thripunithura corridor runs through seven villages — Aluva West, Edappally North, Edappally South, Thrikkakara North, Ernakulam, Elamkulam and Poonithura.
Population
These are thickly populated areas. Identification of the land needed to be acquired by the government and their actual acquisition will assume utmost urgency now that the project has received the go-ahead from the Union government.
As per the current alignment proposed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, a total of 25.33 hectares of land will be required for the project.
Of this, 15.95 hectares is held by private parties and ownership of nearly 10 hectares is vested with the government.
It is likely that the land requirement may change as the final planning progresses. There is, for example, a plan to drop the Fathima Church stop and have an Elamkulam stop.
There is also a proposal to start the administrative office for the metro rail project near the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kaloor.
According to a government official, the speed and effectiveness of the land acquisition process will depend on the government completing the formalities required. These include according of administrative sanction to set up a special office for land acquisition for the metro rail project.
Formation of a Special Purpose Vehicle for promoting the project and issuing of a notification for acquiring the project land on a fast- track basis are the other steps that need to be taken now.
Normal procedures for land acquisition can delay the metro rail project at least by three years as these take as much time as that.
Fast-track process
In the fast-track process, the owners and the government can reach an agreement on the value of the property being acquired and the ownership transferred to the government on reaching an accord.
It is learnt that the survey work has been completed only in Aluva West and Thrikkakara North, while work in other villages have been held up for various reasons.
K.A. MARTIN
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