KOCHI: Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s announcement “1,095 days! That is the deadline and the countdown begins today,” set the ball rolling for the Rs 5,182-crore Kochi Metro Rail.
He made the announcement at the grand ceremony held in connection with the launch of the construction of the project at Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium on June 7, 2013. The announcement brought the spotlight on Kochi.
Though the deadline got extended and it took a year more, 1,460 days to be precise, Kochi Metro Rail still succeeded in becoming the quickest and longest first stretch to be commissioned.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the Aluva-Palarivattam stretch on Saturday, Kochi Express takes a journey back, looking into some of the major reports published by us.
It was a long journey with the project, where Team Express succeeded in highlighting all the major issues. It covered and reported all the major developments connected with the project. Kochi’s demand for the dream project, her wish to want Metroman E Sreedharan’s involvement in the project, the formation of KMRL, people’s issues including traffic snarls, the delay in land acquisition and all the major milestones that shaped the project were covered by us.