CM Pinarayi Vijayan sets March target for Kochi Metro

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister  Pinarayi Vijayan has directed that the work on Kochi Metro project should be expedited  to commission it by March, 2017. In his maiden review of the project after taking over as the chief minister, Mr. Vijayan also instructed the officials to review the progress of the project every three months.

“The officials should set quarterly targets and review whether the target is achieved. Quarterly review reports should  also be submitted to  the chief minister’s office,” Mr. Vijayan instructed the officials. The CM will  monitor  the project directly to ensure that it is  not delayed, a statement from the CM’s office said.

It was also decided to convene a joint meeting of Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) soon. The date will be finalised subject to the convenience of DMRC principal advisor E. Sreedharan.

Why meeting deadline a tough challenge

 

While the deadline for running the metro trains in the Aluva-Maharaja’s College stretch has been revised to March next, the target  seems a tough task given the present labour force being deployed for civil works.

“There is a dip in the labour force strength by 40 per cent while we’re actually asking the contractors to double the personnel. Though the viaduct construction is almost over, except for the area before the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, the station construction activities are lagging behind  and the first of the stations will be ready only by November,” metro sources said.

Currently,  construction activities of Aluva, Muttom, Kalamassery, CUSAT, Pathadippalam, Edappally, Palarivattam and Kaloor stations are progressing. The trial runs, including that for speed, have been held up so as  not to affect the civil works. “Track-laying and signal works  are progressing satisfactorily. Both the upline and down line in the Muttom-Edapally section are over and currently work is progressing in the Muttom-Aluva section,” they said.