RailEnquiry

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was entrusted with the task of building two overbridges and widening three arterial roads as part of the preliminary works for the Kochi metro rail project in 2011.This was to ensure that vehicles could move freely when the around 2-metre-long pillars for the metro rail will be erected along the central median.

Enhancing connectivity
The agency is in the process of widening and rebuilding the North overbridge into a four-lane bridge. Two lanes of the bridge are expected to be ready by the end of August, while the other two passing through the centre would be ready by May 2013. The Salim Rajan overbridge expected to enhance east-west connectivity would be ready by January 2013.The agency also has to widen four narrow arterial roads into four-lane ones — the Town Hall-Kacheripady stretch on Banerjee Road, the narrow portions of MG Road and the Jos Junction-South Railway Station stretch, for which land acquisition is on. The PWD (Roads wing) has been asked to widen the Vytilla-Pettah Road into a four-lane road with a 30-metre width.A coach-maintenance yard-cum-staff quarters at Muttom near Aluva is being designed, keeping in mind the possibility of commercial development of the area to raise capital for the metro. The School of Management Studies of Cusat is expected to submit a detailed report on the stations in a few days time, said sources in the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL), the special purpose vehicle floated for the metro.

Three stages

A DMRC official said that the Aluva-MG Road-Pettah alignment of the proposed metro will be completed in three stages and separate tenders will be floated for this. Each stage will be approximately 8 km long. “The specifications of the viaducts and stations are being finalised.”

A meeting of the District Level Purchase Committee (DLPC) recommended paying Rs.31.35 lakh per cent to people surrendering land for the widening of Banerjee Road and Jos Junction-South Railway Station Road. Land owners are demanding Rs.1 crore per cent.

This dispute over the compensation will not affect the project. The preliminary works will be carried out quickly, sources said. The Chief Minister had asked the DMRC to complete the project in three years.