Kochi: A meeting of the Board of Directors of Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) held in New Delhi on Tuesday approved the detailed project report (DPR) for extending the Metro Rail project from Jawaharlal Nehru International stadium, Kaloor, to Infopark via Kakkanad, for a distance of 11.17 km at an estimated cost of Rs 1,600 cr.
Early completion of this extension would help improve the viability of Metro Phase-I.
The board also approved the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy and the R & R package for the Kochi Metro.
The total expense for providing the rehabilitation package has been put at Rs 25 cr for the 332 affected families.
The 18th board meeting was chaired by the newly appointed Urban Development Secretary Shankar Aggarwal.
The policy was prepared in accordance with the Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act and the guidelines of the funding agencies, M/S. Aarvee Consultants & Abnaki Infrastructure, which conducted the R& R study for KMRL.
The board also approved the proposal for improving and strengthening city roads at a cost of around Rs 31.10 crore.
Out of this, KMRL will bear Rs11.10 crore and for the remaining works, reimbursement would be sought from the State Government.
The board also approved the report on environment impact assessment (EIA) and environment management and monitoring plan for the project.
The cost of implementing the proposed environment management and monitoring plan would be Rs 2.17 crore, consisting of Rs 50 lakh as recurring cost and Rs 1.67 cr as one-time expense for open space development and greening.
The board also took note of the induction of three new members, V. K. Jain, additional member (works), Railways, K. M.Abraham, Additional Chief Secretary(Finance) , Government of Kerala and Narasim Prasad, Director (Systems), Chennai Metro Rail Limited.
Meanwhile, refuting reports of truncating the Metro Rail trial run to a very short distance from Aluva to Kalamassery, sources at Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said the trial run in the first phase of the project would be along the 18 km stretch from Aluva to Maharaja’s College.
“If the project will be cut short to a short distance of six kilometres, without entering the city, it will not serve the purpose of Metro. We’ve been trying our maximum to complete Reach 1 – the 18 km stretch within the deadline and begin the trial run by December 2015,” sources said.
During the review meetings, DMRC principal advisor Dr E.Sreedharan has been repeatedly asking the officials and contractors to complete Reach I within the deadline.
“However, the delay in procuring coaches would cause a delay in commissioning the project,” observed DMRC sources.
It will take more than 16 months to deliver the rolling stock after the order is placed. During retendering, the French multinational company Alstom had won the bid to supply 75 coaches for the Kochi Metro.
Earlier, E.Sreedharan himself had confirmed that the project, proposed from Aluva to Pettah could only be partially commissioned within the deadline. Delay in land acquisition and road widening had hit the progress in construction on several stretches.
