KOCHI: Alkesh Kumar Sharma, managing director of Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) and CEO of Cochin Smart Mission Ltd (CSML), on Wednesday urged techies and people of Kochi to make more use of the public transport system.
“A city’s development depends on the number of people using the public transport system,” he said during a discussion on ‘Kochi - The business hub of future’ organised by World Trade Centre Kochi in association with Indo-Japan Chamber of Commerce Kerala (INJACK).
“In KMRL, all the employees use the public transport system – be it the metro, bus or autorickshaw – at least one day per week. This is a message to all. Rather than waiting for the people to change, the change should start from ourselves.” He said Kochi has always been the state’s business capital. “The city needs to achieve a bit more to become a business hub,” he said.
Kochi Metro Phase II
He said work under Kochi Metro Phase II had started in the city. “It is a 30-month project. Metro’s extension to Kakkanad is very crucial. Right now, our daily ridership is around 65,000. We expect it to become double after the completion of Phase II,” he said.
Global city
Alkesh Kumar Sharma said sustainability and resilience were the two prime factors that any city needed to achieve to become a global city. Kochi is a preferred tourist destination for many and with the increasing connectivity, it can turn a global city soon, he said. He said, Kochi, however, needed to develop a clean city environment to become a global city.
Parking spaces
The KMRL MD said CSML was hunting for spaces to set up parking facilities. “Once such spaces are identified, we will begin the works. However, if people migrate to the public transport, we won’t have to construct many parking spaces,” he said.