KOCHI: The Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) will soon start construction works at few stretches along the narrow Vyttila–Pettah Road, where there is enough space for barricading.
With this, uncertainty over Metro works from Vyttila to Petta would be resolved and the KMRL can complete works without much delay, sources said.
As per the state government’s instruction, the KMRL authorities have submitted details of the areas which have to be immediately widened along the stretch.
“The state government has instructed us to identify the narrow locations where barricading is not possible.
Last week, a team of officials from KMRL, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and Revenue Department have visited the site and prepared a list of places where road widening has to be done on a priority basis.
The estimated cost for the emergency road widening is Rs. 110 cr, while the total cost required for acquiring the plots along the four km stretch will be Rs. 400 cr,” said sources at KMRL.
The Public Works Department (PWD) which owns the road would be asked to start road widening works at the earliest.
The KMRL authorities have made it clear that inordinate delay in starting the work at Vyttila would hit timely completion of the Metro project and the PWD should hand over the road to DMRC after widening the narrow portions.
The delay in road widening has affected the metro construction activities in the fourth reach even as work is progressing at a steady pace in all the other three stretches.
The road, currently with a width of 15 meters, is sought to be increased to 26 meters and more wherever space is available.
