: The deadline for completion of the Kochi metro rail project is set to be extended by nearly a month on account of the ongoing quarry strike.
Official sources said the metro agencies had once again fallen behind schedule with the civil works from Aluva to the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Kaloor coming to a grinding halt owing to the indefinite strike. The stoppage of works for 10 days already will entail a cumulative loss of 30 days, they pointed out.
“We have lost about 10 days from this peak working season, which will have a multiplier effect on the project cost and schedule. Given the average daily loss due to stoppage of works as Rs 40 lakh, the loss so far comes around Rs. 4 crore,” said a top metro official, demanding immediate intervention from the State government to address the issue. The works in the first two reaches from Aluva to Palarivattom have been affected since February 18, while that up to the Maharajas College will stop later this week if the strike continues.
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The key areas to be affected by the strike include piling works, metro stations, duct works, girder casting and the Muttom coach depot in Kalamassery. Similarly, other preparatory works such as the repair and relaying of roads, construction of flyovers, etc., will also take a beating once the stocks get exhausted.
Owing to the strike, the average daily production of concrete has almost come to nil as against the requirement of 600 cubic meters. The average daily requirement of granite for the Kochi Metro Rail works is about 400 metric tonnes.
Meanwhile, the stoppage of works is also set to delay the commencement of systems works such as tracking and traction etc, which were scheduled to begin by April.
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As per the plan, viaduct will be handed over to the track-laying contractor once civil works are over by October. Besides, work on the third traction (sourcing power from line laid in between rails) should be over by January 2016, while installing signals and telecommunication would be done in February 2016.