KOCHI: The skeletal outline of Kochi Metro Rail Ltd’s phase 2 corridor is becoming increasingly visible with core structural works crossing key milestones over the past weeks.
Civil works on the ‘Pink Line’, TNIE has learned, are nearly 50% complete. Officials have expressed confidence that momentum will pick up in the coming months, especially with the station works also commencing on the sites at Chembumukku and Padamughal.
These were the two sites that had earlier threatened to significantly delay the project.
Indeed, at Chembumukku, though St Michael’s Church authorities had agreed to part with the required land, the project got caught up in procedural hurdles.
“We were waiting for the formal land acquisition notification from the collectorate. This has now arrived, and with that, the work on the site commenced. The work on other portions is progressing well,” a metro official said.
At Padamugal, a portion of the proposed station site faced resistance from a landowner. Metro authorities have since identified an alternative location and finalised it.
“The work on the station on the left side of the road has begun, following formal land acquisition notifications. We are awaiting notifications for land on the right side of the road,” the official said.
“The discussions regarding that are over, and everything is finalised. So, it won’t be long now,” he added.
As for the remainder of the work, the official said, “The piling and pier works have progressed steadily across most stretches, with viaduct construction visibly taking shape. Large concrete girders are being erected atop completed piers.”
According to him, “the civil works are progressing well”, and this is reflected in the numbers.
Indeed, according to the latest figures, 1,601 of the 2,028 piles required have been readied. “This puts the piling progress at 80%,” the official said.
Of the 470 piers required on the corridor, 221 have been built. With this, pier work, too, is edging closer to the halfway mark.
The most visible phase of metro construction is the placing of the viaduct girders. Of the 488 U-girders, 100 have been launched onto piers.
Overall, the KMRL team remains optimistic about timelines.
Loknath Behera, the managing director of KMRL, said there are practical challenges to operationalising the first five stations by June, as planned. “But the broader civil works are, no doubt, expected to be completed within that time frame,” he said.
The entire ‘Pink Line’ is slated to be operational by the end of the year.