Kochi: Only half of the 410-cent land required for the widening of the four-km Vytilla-Pettah stretch could be acquired till now which would consume another “eight months time” for the process to complete and the actual metro construction activities to begin in the fourth reach.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC) contract is set to end in June 2017.
The construction in the fourth reach will suffer if the work is not completed before the deadline.
The delay has forced the DMRC to offload initial contractor Era-Ranken off the reach. Another contractor Soma Constructions would also complete their work in Ernakulam South-Vytilla section in a few months.
“The major hurdle for land acquisition is that certain owners don’t have proper documents. The delay in implementing the Land Acquisition Act 2013 is preventing us from forcefully acquiring the plots. The revenue department is thinking of ways to overcome the crisis," sources said.
The Vyttila-Pettah road, currently with a width of 15 metres, is sought to be increased to 26 metres and up to 30 metres wherever space is available.
The carriageways of the widened road should have a width of 7.5 metres on either side. While the width of medians is set at 4 metres, the footpaths on either side would be 1.4-metre wide.
Meanwhile, the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) is yet to hand over a few plots
in the Maharaja’s College-Vytilla section too, which it promises to complete “soon”.
