: The 19th board meeting of the Kochi Metro Rail Limited on Tuesday consented to give preference to one member each from the families displaced or evicted for the Kochi metro rail to fill the vacancies arising with the project.
The decision, which forms part of a supplementary policy for providing rehabilitation and resettlement to the evictees, is subject to the qualifications of the persons concerned.
Besides, it also agreed to permit small merchants and commercial establishments who have been displaced by the project, to have the ‘Right of first refusal’ in the location of commercial spaces developed by KMRL. This entitlement will be limited to one commercial space per affected establishment.
The Board has also accepted the operations and maintenance strategy for the Kochi Metro Rail project that envisages the metro agency to carry out the key technical functions with its in-house manpower. However, other services like customer services, cleaning, station maintenance and upkeep of facilities will be outsourced.
Further, priority will be given on inducting women employees in all areas, including operations and maintenance sections.
The other major proposal that came up for discussion was the plan to develop a modern water transport system for the Greater Kochi region.
While considering it, the board also took note of the willingness expressed by the funding agencies-Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) in the project.
The detailed project report of the project is expected to be complete by the first week of February, following which it will be sent for approval by the government and funding.
Major decisions made in the meeting included the need to engage a competent agency for providing consultancy services for determining fare options in a multi-modal transit environment.
This study is expected to contribute towards finalising the fare-fixation principles of the Kochi Metro Rail as well as for the entire Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority system.
Meanwhile, the Board took note of the commitment given by DMRC for accelerating the completion of works so as to commence the revenue operations from Aluva to Maharajas College in June 2016. It also acknowledged the agreements between KMRL and National Payments Corporation of India for creation of a common mobility card to be used for ticketing as well as an array of other consumer services.
