: The way has been cleared for the formal launch of the work of Kochi metro rail along the Vyttila-Pettah stretch with the revenue authorities kick-starting the proceedings to acquire a 1.25 acre property in Thykoodam.
Revenue officials said the authority has already received consent from property owner Narayanan Kutty. The land is being taken over for the construction of a 25 MVA (Megavolt Ampere) power sub-station to feed the metro lines and the auxiliary services, they said.
According to KMRL, the requirement of power supply for Kochi metro will be 15.3 MVA for which, two sub-stations will be set up at Muttom and Thykoodam along the Aluva-Pettah corridor.
The sub-stations will have two transformers each, with a capacity of 25 MVA-one for duty and the other as standby.
Sources said the metro authority would commence work on the two sub-stations in Muttom in the next few days. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which implements the project, has already handed over the drawings of the sub-station buildings to McNally Bharat Engineering Co. Ltd, its Kolkata-based civil contractor.
Recently, the KMRL obtained a term loan of Rs. 470 crore, which will be used for acquisition of land and development work at selected points along the six-kilometre long Vyttila-Pettah stretch.
Earlier, the stretch was planned to be widened by 25 meters at all points and 30 meters herever possible.
The proposal had been hanging fire owing to a paucity of funds with the state government. Besides, the delay in implementing Land Acquisition Act 2013, which envisages a significant increase in landowner’s compensation also contributed to the pendency in land acquisition.
Meanwhile an official statement from the KMRL on Thursday said the Delhi High Court had rejected the plea of Kalpataru Power Transmission Limited challenging the awarding of a tender for High Voltage Receiving Sub-station tender for Kochi Metro to Alstom. The former had approached the Delhi High Court against their disqualification from the tender.
