. Work on widening the Pettah-Tripunithura corridor to pave the way for Kochi Metro’s Tripunithura extension is set to take off the State Government has sanctioned Rs.123 crore for the extension’s preparatory works.
The narrow Pettah bridge, which falls in the corridor too, will be widened to four-lane, Minister for Excise and Ports K. Babu told The Hindu . Crossing the bridge is a nightmare for pedestrians since it does not have a footpath.
The Rs 123-crore fund will be utilised to compensate landowners, shift utility lines and widen the congested road. Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) has funds to construct the extension’s viaduct and two stations — at Alliance Junction and S.N. Junction.
Kunnara-Pettah
In the meantime, the ongoing four-laning work of the Kunnara Park-Pettah corridor for taking the metro beyond Vyttila is encountering delay, it is learnt. “The alignment was changed slightly to steer clear of underground oil pipelines. This has necessitated fresh land acquisition. The Revenue Department must convene a district-level purchase committee meeting to speed up the process,” metro sources said.
The demand to widen the Vyttila-Kunnara stretch has fallen on deaf ears. The KMRL had stated that it would not take up the task since the metro passes through Vyttila Mobility Hub. The PWD, which owns the stretch, too has not taken up the widening work. There are fears that this would worsen snarls in the bottlenecked corridor once the road eastward is widened.
