The KMRL has appointed RV Associates as the project management consultant for the Pettah-Thripunithura metro corridor to supervise the work and ensure its quality.
Apart from quality control, the firm has been mandated with ensuring safety at work sites and contract management for the 2.5-km stretch. It would also have to bring about activity-based execution of works, thereby ensuring that project milestones for the viaduct and three stations were adhered to, metro sources said.
All the project management works were executed by DMRC for the Aluva-Pettah metro corridor since the agency was tasked with the entire project, including consultancy, inviting tenders and project management works, the cost of which was included in the project estimate. It also had a full-fledged safety team which followed a centralised safety protocol. The KMRL, for whom the Pettah-Thripunithura corridor is the first full-fledged work, is yet to constitute a team for project management, supervision and safety. All the other responsibilities, including inviting and finalising tenders is done by KMRL.
The KMRL decided to appoint a project management consultant to prevent hiring of additional manpower, the sources said.
A key element in the stretch is a two-lane bridge that would be built parallel to the existing one at Pettah.
Tender in final stage
In the meantime, the first girder on the Pettah-SN Junction stretch was launched recently.
As for extending the metro beyond SN Junction, up to the land identified near the Thripunithura Railway Station, the processing of the financial bid to build the viaduct and station is in the final stage, it is learnt.
The State government had given permission for the extension which is aimed at extending the metro to the temple town, where the metro station would be a stone’s throw away from the adjacent railway station and the bus stand that has been proposed nearby.
