KOCHI: The land acquisition process for the expansion of the Kochi Metro in phase-I (A) to Tripunithura got a major boost on Friday with 14 plot owners along the Petta-SN Junction stretch handing over the possession of their land in advance to KMRL before the commencement of the widening work.
The move will help the agency speed up the road widening work along the Petta-SN Junction stretch. At present, the land acquisition process of the Phase-I extension from Petta to SN Junction is in the final stage. Once the preparatory work is over, the stretch can be handed over to the contractors to carry out the expansion up to Tripunithura.
The plan is to launch the work by this year-end or in early 2020. The 14 plot owners handed over the land documents to KMRL managing director A P M Mohammed Hanish at the KMRL headquarters here on Friday. Dr Alex of Tripunithura handed over 30 cents of land while Aadampilly Kavu Kshethra Trust handed over 4.5 cents of land to the KMRL. The proposed SN Junction Metro Station will be constructed on Dr Alex’s property.
The Revenue authorities and KMRL staff had held discussions with landowners, various residents’ associations and people’s representatives with regard to land acquisition. The state government has already transferred `109 crore to the account of the Ernakulam District Collector to speed up the land acquisition proceedings. District Collector K Mohammed Y Safirulla and Deputy Collector Sinu Lal are monitoring the land acquisition work. Both the officers expressed hope the land acquisition can be completed within the stipulated time.
The Kochi Metro Rail alignment of Phase-I (A) extension from Petta to Tripunithura via SN Junction will cover a total length of 2 km and is expected to enhance the passenger patronage. Meanwhile, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which is implementing the project up to Petta, is planning to make the stretch Maharaja’s Ground to up to Thykkoodam ready for commissioning by June 2019.