The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) needs better coordination from Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) and the KSEB for shifting pipelines and power cables as part of preliminary works being done for the Kochi metro rail, the former Managing Director of DMRC E. Sreedharan has said.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Mr. Sreedharan, who is also the agency's Principal Advisor for the Kochi project said that the Planning Commission's public investment board is scheduled to clear the project in another 10 days, following which the Union Cabinet's clearance is expected. “The construction works can begin soon after,” he said.
Referring to his meeting with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at New Delhi on Tuesday, he said that he apprised Mr. Chandy of the various aspects of the project if the DMRC executed it and how it would be if the KMRL did it.
The Chief Minister would discuss the matter with his Cabinet and take a decision by Thursday, he said. “I am positive of the DMRC's continued involvement in the project,” Mr. Sreedharan said.
Unlike the DMRC which has 14 years of experience in executing metro projects, the KMRL does not have the technical competence to carry out the project, he said. Through DMRC's involvement, the Jaipur metro could save Rs 350 crore.
He added that the KMRL's structure would change once the Centre sanctioned the metro rail project.
The Centre would appoint its chairman, while the managing director would be appointed by the State. There would be equal number of directors from the Centre and State.
“We do not want a confrontation with the KMRL or any other agency and our sole aim is to complete the project on time. The KMRL can take over the operations and maintenance once the project is commissioned. We would offer help for a few years,” he said..
He said that Kochi would have a light metro-rail, with three coaches in each train to begin with. They would be 2.80 metres wide, unlike coaches that are up to 3.20 metres wide in most other cities.
On the magnetic levitation (Maglev) technology proposed for the Kochi metro, he said that a decision is awaited on the technology which is being used in Japan and South Korea. The coaches would not have wheels and would float over the magnetic rails. Their movement would also be smoother and would make lesser noise than the coaches with wheels. It is apt for a city like Kochi which has narrow roads and sharp curves.
As for traffic movement along the metro's ALuva-M G Road-Pettah alignment, he said that the DMRC has a time-tested system that would ensure that people are least inconvenienced when work on the metro project is on. On the metro-rail co-existing with the flyovers proposed at Edapally and Vytilla, he said that the NHAI has not finalized their design. “The DMRC can provide the NHAI with technical solutions,” he said.
To a question on the metro-rail's power requirements, Mr Sreedharan said that in New Delhi, it is three per cent of the city's power consumption.
Earlier, he inspected the works being carried out by DMRC to widen the North overbridge and to build a new overbridge linking Salim Rajan Road with Rajaji Road. Mayor Tony Chammany and Hibi Eden, MLA, were among those who called on him at the agency's Kochi office.
