Metro land acquisition up to Vyttila to be fast tracked

May 05, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 07:18 am IST - KOCHI

Land acquisition of a few plots on the Maharaja’s College Ground-Vyttila stretch in the Kochi Metro corridor will be fast tracked, since delay in handing over land to civil contractors is hampering the pace of work.

This was decided at a land acquisition review meeting held here on Monday. Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) will also begin the tendering process for widening Vyttila–Pettah Road into four lane in a week’s time. All tendering formalities will be completed by the time land is acquired by June end, sources in the metro agency said.

“It was also decided to make a concerted effort to speed up land acquisition in Jos Junction-Ernakulam Junction railway station-Manorama Junction and Vyttila-Pettah corridors (part of metro’s reach 2) so that work to convert the two stretches into four-lane roads can commence by June end,” said Elias George, MD of KMRL.

The major plots that have to be taken over on the stretch include land owned by Kochi Corporation near Ernakulam Junction railway station for building a metro station, land from the railway station to Manorama Junction, FACT land, service road on northern side of Ernakulam South overbridge and Railway Cooperative Society land.

A few traders in Jos Junction-railway station stretch are refusing to vacate their premises, citing ‘inadequate compensation’, though State government agreed to pay them Rs. 52 lakh per cent of land. KMRL and District Administration have reportedly worked out a strategy to ensure fast and smooth takeover of land.

With State government citing paucity of funds, KMRL had obtained a Rs. 470-crore loan from Ernakulam District Cooperative Bank for compensating and rehabilitating land owners, especially in Jos Junction-Pettah stretch.

The metro agency and DMRC are keen on completing a lion’s share of civil works before the onset of monsoon by May end. Constructing Pachalam overbridge as part of metro’s preparatory works, too, is long overdue. District Collector M.G. Rajamanickam, too, was present at the meeting.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.