The State Cabinet entrusting Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) on Wednesday with the task of readying a detailed project report (DPR) for light metro and metro neo projects envisaged for Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode respectively has come as a confidence booster for the metro agency, which recently executed the Kochi metro’s Pettah-SN Junction corridor.
The 1.80-km extension is awaiting commissioning, while the metro agency has set December as the deadline to complete the 1-km SN Junction-Thripunithura terminal station corridor. The metro’s 25-km Aluva-Pettah corridor had been executed by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which had also readied its DPR.
A team of senior technical personnel who were in the DMRC are part of the team which joined KMRL and have hence been spearheading extensions beyond Pettah.
Mobility plan crucial
On the new responsibility in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode that KMRL has been vested with, the agency’s managing director Loknath Behera said a comprehensive mobility plan (CMP) for the two cities would be readied at first (by competent agencies) to assess the travelling pattern and demand for mass rapid transport systems (MRTs) like the metro. “This will help zero in on whether the cities need conventional metro, light metro, or metro neo. Subsequently, the DPR will be readied by agencies authorised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in consultation with our team of experts.”
The DPR will be submitted to the State Cabinet for approval, following which it will be forwarded to MoHUA and later to the Union Cabinet for final approval. The entire process is expected to be completed in eight to 10 months, he added.
Among the other components, the DPR will have parameters like project cost and multiple options for financing. The entire exercise will be as per norms specified by MoHUA and the Metro Rail Policy-2017. This could in turn even mean that more areas will be brought under the MRT that will be shortlisted for the two cities.
An alternative analysis report (AAR) will be readied prior to the preparation of the DPR to assess which among the three metro systems is apt for the two cities. An action plan will be readied based on the outcome of a meeting that has been planned within a week, it is learnt.
The State Cabinet further vested KMRL with the task of constructing three flyovers in the cities.
