Protest is brewing among traders against the realignment of the Kochi Metro Rail along the Palarivattom-Kakkanad stretch.
Addressing the media here on Friday, office bearers of the recently formed Palarivattom-Kakkanad Metro Realignment Action Council described the move as “unscientific and biased move, besides being a drain on the public exchequer”. It added that the move was in complete violation of the land acquisition guidelines for the Kochi metro. The move to realign the metro rail along one side of the Civil Line Road between Palarivattom and Kakkanad will involve the demolition of several shops, which will affect the livelihood of numerous families, they complained.
“It will also add to the metro project cost by way of huge compensation for demolition and relocation, and in terms of rent for a minimum of 15 years,” K.S. Vijayan, an office bearer of the action council, said.
They demanded that metro pillars be laid in the middle of the road as done on the stretch between Aluva and Vyttila. They also said that land acquisition should be limited to nine metres on both sides from the middle of the road.
“The Civil Line Road had an original width of 18 metres. However, encroachments have reduced the width at several points. The original width should be restored by evicting encroachers. Land acquisition should be taken up only after that,” the office bearers demanded.
Employees to benefit
They also suggested a rink rail metro by extending the Kochi metro from Thripunithura to Infopark / SmartCity and then aligning it along the Seaport-Airport road to connect it with Aluva via Nedumbassery. Such a plan will benefit thousands of employees working with institutions like the Kochi Refinery, Infopark, industrial belt, HMT, and Medical College, they said.
The office bearers claimed that the unviable alignment was a reason why the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation did not take up work on the stretch.
Mr. Vijayan said the action council would take up strong protest movements if the Kochi Metro Rail Limited failed to respond positively to its letter detailing objections to the realignment move.
