When everybody wants a share of metro pie

Vypeen residents join the chorus for metro extension into the island

November 20, 2014 09:17 am | Updated 09:17 am IST

Everybody wants a share of Metro pie.

In the beginning, metro had Aluva and Pettah as its Alpha and Omega. Later it was stretched to Tripunithura and Kakkanad. And now, residents of Vypeen too, want it.

The Kerala Catholic Youth Movement (KCYM) have launched a “Kochi Metro - Why not Vypeen” campaign. A social media campaign through Facebook has also been launched to mobilise support.

“We are planning to organise a bike rally from Vypeen to the Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) office in December to press our demand. Before that we would meet Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash and Benny Behanan, MLA, to submit a memorandum. A panel of experts from our side would also impress KMRL authorities about the arguments in favour of such an extension,” said Shine Antony, present, KCYM.

Mr. Shine said Vypeen had emerged as a logistics and infrastructure hub with a multitude of projects from Vallarpadam Container Terminal to LNG. “This has spawned a proliferation in residential projects. With the prevailing ban on the entry of public transport to and from the city, Kochi Metro may well prove to be a lifeline. It would also ensure a dedicated clientele for Kochi Metro,” Mr. Antony said.

There was no reason to overlook Vypeen’s claim, he said, considering that it was one of the most densely populated islands in the country. KCYM was of the opinion that land acquisition cannot be a reason to deny islanders Kochi Metro’s benefits.

Did some of the private bus operators in the neighbouring Cherthala actually slash fares following a drop in diesel price as reported in a section of the media?

Asked whether commuters in the city can also expect a similar benevolence from private bus operators, All Kerala Private Bus Operators Federation State president M.B. Satyan, who incidentally is a city-based operator, just stopped short of claiming such reports spoof.

“I have been trying to trace operators who have slashed fares as reported only to realise that no such thing has taken place. A section of buses in the Cherthala-Kottayam route being operated under a society had been allowing regular commuters to travel for a month on paying 18 days’ fare in advance. But that system had there been in place for years now,” Mr. Satyan said.

He said any such drop in fare proportionate to the fall in diesel price was impossible since fare hikes were decided not just on the basis of fuel price alone.

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