The Kerala High Court on Friday expressed severe displeasure over the inaction on the part of the Kochi corporation in finalising the alignment of the proposed rail over bridge (ROB) at Pachalam. The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice A M Shafeeq, also directed the Corporation to submit a final alignment of the ROB by April 2.
The counsel for the Corporation submitted that the Corporation had held discussions with agencies such as Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) regarding the finalisation of the alignment of ROB.
However, the High Court observed that the Kochi Corporation has not moved even an inch forward since the discussion on the alignment submitted by Roads and Bridges Development Corporation in 2011
Meanwhile, responding to the observations of the High Court, Mayor Tony Chammany said, “The court would not have made such an observation. The redesigned proposal for Pachalam ROB made by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation finally received the nod of the Kochi Corporation council recently.”
He added that he did not know under which circumstance the court has made such an observation.
The redesigned proposal has been referred to the state cabinet. The DMRC will take up the project once the cabinet clears it. The revised plan of the DMRC suggests a width of 7.5 metres alongside a footpath of 1.5 metres.The Railways is expected to bear half of the estimated project cost of `33 crore and 52 cents of land need to be acquired.
The opposition had raised protests against the new design during the discussion at the council as they favoured the earlier proposal under the JNNURM that recommended a 22-m-wide overbridge.
The opposition also alleged that Goshree-Mamangalam approach road and related facilities did not find a place in the new proposal.