Metro’s Kakkanad extension: concern at delay in developing alternative roads
Eight metres of Civil Line Road to be barricaded to execute piling work. Motorists to use approximately 5-m-wide portions on either side of the road
Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) is readying to commence piling for the metro’s Kakkanad extension from mid-May, even as motorists, NGOs and residents’ and traders’ associations are demanding fast-tracking of the ongoing widening of Civil Line Road and other corridors through which the viaduct would pass though.
The long-awaited concurrence of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) that had agreed to extend a loan for the 11.20km extension would be crucial to kickstart piling from mid-May, metro sources said.
As per the plan, eight metres of the road in the JLN Stadium-Infopark corridor would be barricaded in order to execute the piling work. Motorists would have to use the approximately ve-metre-wide portions on either side of the Civil Line Road, where the widening process is encountering hassles mainly in the form of inordinate delay in relocating electric posts and those of private telecom players, it is learnt.
The viaduct in the JLN Stadium-Infopark corridor could be readied in another 18 months, by October 2025, if everything worked according to the plan, ocial sources said. It was estimated that installing signal and telecommunication system and tracks would take another six months. Metro ocials were hopeful of adhering to the timeline, especially since the nine stations on the Kakkanad extension would be smaller than the stations in the Aluva-Thripunithura extension. The works to build the entry and exit of Infopark, Chittethukara, Kinfra park, Collectorate Junction and CSEZ stations were already on. Over a month ago, Afcons Infrastructure had emerged as the lowest bidder to construct the viaduct and the nine stations, as nancial bids for the project were opened.
Delay
The Thrikkakara Development Forum (TDF) has in the meantime denounced the delay on the part of KMRL in widening the Civil Line Road and the two-kmstretch south of Collectorate Junction through which the metro viaduct would pass. IT professionals and others too were demanding development of wider access roads and footpaths to Infopark, fearing congestion when barricades were erected to construct the metro viaduct. Expressing concern at ‘the IT hub becoming an accident hub’, M.S. Anilkumar, general convener of the forum, said the inordinate delay in completing the widening work of these roads that began about four years ago was causing accidents, including fatal ones.
The forum reiterated the demand that the government allot funds and widen the 2-km-long Bharata Mata College-Collectorate Junction corridor on Seaport-Airport Road before piling commenced for the metro’s Kakkanad extension. “Funds must also be allotted to widen the Collectorate Junction-IMGInfopark corridor on a priority basis since around 70,000 IT professionals are having a harrowing time, negotiating through narrow but congested roads,” Mr. Anilkumar said. Metro sources said that it was hamstrung due to inadequate funds to develop alternative roads.