Title - Survey team ready for Metro land acquisition

The Director of Survey has appointed the survey team required for land acquisition for the Kochi Metro Rail project. The appointment was made on Tuesday.A survey unit for demarcating the boundary of the National Highway from Aluva to Edapally has also been allotted, said a press release from the Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL). The eviction of encroachment along the highway will be done by a team headed by the project director of the National Highway Authority of India after demarcating the boundary.To quicken the land acquisition process, the Department of Revenue has published a notification under section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, partly for seven stations and for three of the viaducts, which will be placed along the sides of the roads instead of the medians. A similar notification was issued on November 2 for the Muttom yard.The total land requirement for the project has increased from 31.9216 hectares (as per the detailed project report) to 40.409 hectares after the revisions in the alignment and space required for parking. Accordingly, the estimate for the land acquisition has gone up to Rs. 1,110 crore from Rs. 672 crore, the release said.The stations that require land acquisition are Ambattukavu, Muttom, Cusat, Changampuzha Park, Elamkulam, Thykoodam and Pettah. The stations at Kaloor, Vytilla Hub and South Railway station are mostly on government land and hence less private land need to be acquired, the release said.

The notification covers land required for viaducts in Aluva-Pulinchodu corridor, HMT ROB near Nippon Toyota and Madhava Pharmacy corridor near Seematti.

North bridge ready

DMRC principal adviser E. Sreedharan said the two new lanes of North railway overbridge have been completed and trial runs will be done soon before opening it for traffic.

The formal inauguration of the four-lane renovated bridge will be done only after rebuilding the two lanes at the bridge’s centre.

The design and plan for the renovation of the middle portion is ready and its dismantling will start soon, Mr. Sreedharan said.