Leading transport consultancy firm Urban Mass Transit Company Limited (UMTC) has been tasked to look into the feasibility of linking Technopark to the proposed 21.8-km Light Metro corridor from Pallipuram to Karamana.
The UMTC has been selected by the board of Kerala Rapid Transit Corporation Limited (KRTL) to carry out the feasibility study after taking into account the expertise the Gurgaon-based firm has in studies connected with Metro.
UMTC’s role
The UMTC’s role in preparing Comprehensive Mobility Plan and trans-oriented plan for Kochi Metro as per the revised Metro policy of the Centre was also considered while selecting the firm.
“Letter of Intent has been given to the UMTC based on the board decision and they have been asked to submit report within three months. The feasibility study will cost ₹44 lakh and is expected to start before the middle of December,” official sources told The Hindu . The proposal to link the IT hub, where 60,000 techies work, to the MRTS corridor was mooted by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the board of the KRTL on July 24.
The UMTC, while looking into the feasibility, will have to look into several issues. The work on the 2.7-km four-lane flyover at Kazhakuttam, along the NH 66 and the NH 66 Bypass to Karode from near the main gate of Technopark to the CSI Mission Hospital, has commenced and the alignment cannot be altered. Similarly, alignment for Light Metro along the NH 66 Kazhakuttam-Karyavattom corridor cannot be altered, as the gradient is steep. In 2014, the DMRC had looked into re-routing the elevated MRTS through the IT hub and had abandoned the proposal in view of the gradient and cost.
Re-routing Reach I
Re-routing Reach 1 from Kazhakuttom Junction through the periphery of the Technopark to rejoin Reach II, which extends from Karyavattom to Kesavadasapuram, was found feasible.
The DMRC had found that 0.5 hectares was needed to set up station in the IT hub and that additional line will incur ₹316 crore. In addition to the land from the Technopark, 86 cents will be needed for laying MRTS line. Operating e-vehicles from the light metro station to Technopark offices, transport modes like mono rail and pod cars for the sprawling Technopark campus would be looked into, sources said.
