Kochi metro rail’s first pier cap was launched at the work site near Pulinchodu in Aluva on Friday. “Traffic was not affected though the pier cap that was pre-cast by Larsen and Toubro at HMT yard was brought to the site by trailer and launched atop a pier during day time,” an official of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said.
Meanwhile, piling work at Pachalam overbridge was stopped by an irate crowd on Friday. The people were protesting against the closure of the Pachalam railway gate, which had resulted in traffic snarls at Vaduthala railway gate and the narrow approach roads. They also protested against the delay in land acquisition and handing over of compensation to people whose land would be taken for the bridge. “The stoppage of works has been taken up with the Kochi Metro Rail Limited, the district Administration and the police,” a DMRC official said.
As a first step to set up a Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) in the city, the KMRL will conduct a workshop here in collaboration with CODATU, an international non-profit making organisation and AFD, French overseas development assistance agency, on March 26 and 27.
The aim is to establish a roadmap specifying and prioritising Kochi’s transportation needs and to formulate a multimodal urban transport policy. While funding the metro project, the AFD had promised to assist the KMRL in structuring an effective unified metropolitan transport system for Kochi, said Elias George, managing director of KMRL.
