KOCHI: Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson has said that a joint inspection by the Kerala and Dubai governments to review the progress of the Smart City Kochi project will be held here on September 5.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will participate in the board meeting of Smart City to be held on the same day to decide the date of inauguration of the project, he added. The Chief Secretary was speaking to reporters after the fourth high-level review meeting of ‘SmartCity Kochi’ here on Monday.
Jiji Thomson said that a slight change will be made in the alignment of Kochi Metro project in such a way that it benefits Infopark, Smart City and Kinfra Industrial Park. The new alignment is proposed as a right turn, without much change, from the Infopark stop.
“Reconstruction of the IMG Junction-Edachira Road has already started. The four-lane road will be extended to Brahmapuram bridge and completed by August 31. A resurvey will be conducted in the project area to locate encroachments. If any encroachment is found, it will be evacuated soon,” said the Chief Secretary.
He said that SmartCity Dubai and TECOM officials have expressed satisfaction over the progress of the project.
SmartCity Dubai Managing Director Jaber Bin Hafez said that proactive initiatives by the state government would strengthen investors’ confidence in the project.
“Inadequate road connectivity was the main concern raised by many of the international companies. We are glad that the government has taken steps to tackle infrastructure challenges by building additional roads and extending Metro Rail connectivity. We are hopeful that the pending issues would also be resolved soon, while the first building gets ready for inauguration by October 2015,” he added. The review meeting has assessed the progress of the 6.5-lakh sq ft IT tower SCK01, the first building under the project that is nearing completion, and the other infrastructure facilities. It also discussed issues listed by SmartCity that needed government intervention, including encroachments.
The estimate for extending the road from Brahmapuram bridge to Karimugal has been prepared, which will also be executed soon.
SmartCity Kochi has given a proposal of Rs 5.5 crore for the infrastructure project. Formation of the SmartCity Kochi Township Authority will be fast-tracked. SmartCity Kochi interim CEO Baju George, Kerala Urban Affairs Secretary A P M Mohammed Hanish, Kerala IT Secretary K Suresh Kumar and Revenue Principal Secretary E K Majhi also participated.