Kochi: With Assembly election over, the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) has hastened the ‘Metro Aqua Boats’ project. It aims to appoint a general consultant to finalise modalities by August. “The project fell behind target after being caught up in the model code of conduct for election. Now we’ve floated the Expression of Interest to appoint a General Consultant for the project. The response is heartening with over 50 downloads. The consultant will be appointed by August so that the boats can be rolled out by early 2017 as planned,” a senior Metro official said.
While the KMRL will procure majority of the 78 metro aqua boats, private parties can run one-third of the boats. The boats will operate at a speed of eight knots with limited stops. A portion of the boats will be reserved for tourists too. The consultant is being appointed after experts differed over the initial plan and pointed out areas for cutting down project cost by rolling out non-AC boats instead of the planned AC ones or going for fibre boats instead of steel ones, among others.
“The general consultant will be asked to study all these factors and suggest the best viable one. The tenders for the catamaran-type passenger ferries will be called only after that,” the official said. The Rs 819.23-crore project has already got the Centre’s nod and KMRL is planning to obtain 80 per cent of the funding from German bank KfW.
