Providing a major fillip to Kochi’s civic infrastructure, the French external development agency, AFD, has confirmed a soft loan to Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) for a package involving the metro rail’s Kakkanad extension, electric feeder buses and junction development programmes.
It has also agreed to fund solar-powered initiatives of the metro agency. Elaborating on the French aid, KMRL’s managing director Elias George said that AFD had agreed in principle to provide a soft loan of Rs 840 crore for the Rs 2,017-crore Kakkanad extension. Apart from widening roads in the 11-km extension, the metro agency also plans to lay dedicated ducts to carry pipelines and cables. The AFD has already sanctioned a Rs 1,500-crore loan for the metro’s Aluva-Thripunithura phase one project.
“By clubbing the other three components, we are hopeful of getting an additional Rs 150 crore as loan from AFD. This will help us realise metro’s Kakkanad extension, streamline traffic flow and also augment connectivity in the Greater Kochi region,” Mr. George said.
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The second major project for which French aid has been promised is improvement of urban infrastructure. Under this project, narrow and bottlenecked junctions on current and future metro corridors will be widened and developed, since they choke vehicular traffic.
Most junctions do not have proper free-left turns and a lane for vehicles waiting to turn to the road on the right side, he said.
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Apart from junctions, standardised, pedestrian friendly footpaths will be built as part of KMRL’s mission to ensure safe pedestrian zones and cycle tracks. The metro agency is engaged in building a pedestrian walkway-cum-cycle track of international standards with French technical help in Panampilly Nagar. It has mooted a similar project linking Ernakulam Boat Jetty with Maharajas College Ground and yet another one on M.G. Road, Mr. George said.
The aid is also expected to procure a fleet of 100 electric feeder buses for the metro. These buses will link metro stations with suburban towns, improving inter-modal connectivity while also improving patronage for the metro. Solar-powered utilities are aimed at promoting eco-friendly and sustainable development initiatives.
The detailed project report (DPR) for the metro’s Kakkanad extension was approved by State government a few months ago.
It is awaiting the formal sanction of the Union Urban Development Ministry and Public Investment Board before being placed before the Union Cabinet. Work is under way to prepare supplementary DPRs for the three other initiatives so that the projects can be bundled together for getting the French loan, Mr. George said.