March 13 review to fix Kochi Metro day'

Kochi: A key review meeting on Kochi Metro, to be chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on March 13, is expected to decide whether commercial operations should be started by April or not. The meet will be held at Thiruvananthapuram. Kochi Metro authorities, especially the project implementing agency Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), wanted to start the services in the 13-km Aluva-Palarivattom stretch by April first week. However, the chief minister in the last review meet in December had asked metro authorities to seriously consider finishing construction works in the 18-km Aluva-Maharajas College stretch first before commencing commercial operations.

He pointed out that commencement of services till Palarivattom would further congest the city as metro commuters would have to find another mode of transport to travel to the city and back. “A meet is scheduled at the Chief Minister’s office at Thiruvananthapuram to review the project progress on March 13. The agenda is yet to be finalized. It’s expected that the matter will come up for consideration along with other projects,” sources said.

DMRC authorities wanted to start the commercial operations early so that any shortcoming or improvement needed in the system could be identified by regular monitoring and corrective measures taken at the earliest. Meanwhile, the metro authorities are expected to bring up the issue of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) rejecting its request, to lease out 78 cents belonging to the latter at Palarivattom Junction, at the meet. The demand for the land, aimed to facilitate parking facilities, was rejected by the board citing its intent to construct a ‘Vaiduti bhavan’ there.