Choking Kochi city overlooks skyline, expands to suburbs

Regarding the Miniature City, Jose said the Kochi Metro has got 17 acres of land at Kakkanad.
Aerial  view of Kakkanad | ARUN ANGELA
Aerial view of Kakkanad | ARUN ANGELA

KOCHI: As a city gets crowded and comes under pressure due to lack of enough water and clear air, it is natural that its dwellers tend to overlook its skyline to the suburbs. Kochi city is witnessing exactly that and as its suburbs are developing rapidly, the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) has come up with projects like Kochi Economic City focusing on areas including Aluva, Angamaly and Perumbavoor. The ultimate aim is to make Kochi one of the modern cities by 2050.
Experts feel Kakkanad will achieve the ultra-modern status in another 10 years.

“We want to avoid congestion in the main city and develop the suburbs so that people there can enjoy all the facilities the city centre offers. Kakkanad will see a rapid change once the Metro Rail is extended to Infopark. Moreover, the Miniature City proposed at Kakkanad will change its very face,” Chief Secretary Tom Jose told Express in an exclusive interview.

Miniature City

Regarding the Miniature City, Jose said the Kochi Metro has got 17 acres of land at Kakkanad. “The plan is to develop it into a major activity hub where you can generate revenue by setting up exhibition/convention centre and IMAX theatre, which provide education and entertainment,” he added.

Road, Rail and Water

P T Thomas MLA said the proposed Water Metro, Metro Rail expansion and road development will ensure adequate infrastructure for Kakkanad.“The Seaport-Airport road is four-lane only up to Bharata Mata College now. This will be widened up to Irumbanam. Another plan is to develop the Thammanam-Pulleppady road until Chittethukara. From there, it’ll offer better connectivity to the Cochin International Airport through the suburbs,” he said.

Thomas said while carrying out the development work, the authorities concerned should ensure the public/open spaces are retained. “There’s much greenery and many water bodies in the Kakkanad region. All development activities should be carried out by retaining them. We believe the Metro’s Miniature City programme will keep that in mind,” said Thomas. 

Promoting township concepts is GCDA’s top priorityAnilkumar T & Shibu B S

The GCDA has already planned townships in the suburbs. “Promoting township concepts will help streamline the system and bring down the load on physical infrastructure, promote employee productivity and satisfaction, contribute to lower employee attrition and help attract quality talent,” said SmartCity Kochi CEO Manoj Nair. On townships based on Andhra Pradesh-based Amaravati model, Jose said such facilities are built on the banks of rivers.

“You build walkways and leisure points. You also encourage water transport. There comes a need for constructing new boat jetties and modernised vessels including small ones for cruise. Basically it’s a combination of entertainment and clean environment,” added Jose.

(Tomorrow: Kochi’s Water Transport network  to see drastic changes)
Exhibition centre at Bolghatty

Kochi may be the centre of trade and commerce, but it does not have any permanent exhibition centre. There have been many proposals during the last 25 years, but it never materialised.“We’ve about five-six acres of land identified by Kinfra at Bolghatty. We’re going to build a permanent exhibition centre where companies and businesses can exhibit their products and services. . We’re looking at permanent state-of-the-art structures with Wi-Fi and entertainment avenues,” said Jose. As per 2011 census, population density in Kochi Corporation is at 7,500 per sq km.

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