Delays plague road widening beneath metro’s Kakkanad extension

Residents and officials express concern over delays in Kochi metro extension construction, demand speedy measures for alternative road development.

The alleged delay in the commencement of piling and other ground-level construction activity at many of the worksites on Civil Line Road, where barricades were erected to build Kochi metro’s Kakkanad extension, has drawn flak.

The extensive barricading at eight-metre width of the congested road that leads from the city to the IT hub, the Collectorate and a host of educational institutions at Kakkanad, and the metro agency’s inability to clear traffic bottlenecks on alternative roads had prompted residents’ associations, merchant unions, the Thrikkakara Development Forum (TDF) and Thrikkakara MLA Uma Thomas to reiterate their demand for speedy measures to develop alternative roads.

Ms. Thomas, who raised the demand in the Legislative Assembly and submitted a memorandum in this regard to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan earlier this month, expressed concern at the absence of men, machinery and construction materials at innumerable barricaded worksites on the road and along the alignment of the 11.20-km extension. “I also took up the issue repeatedly with KMRL [Kochi Metro Rail Limited] authorities, especially since it is agonising to see children and aged people struggle to cross the road where motorists caught in traffic snarls jostle for space with pedestrians at yet-to-be-widened areas,” she said.

People are worried over the inordinate delay in completing the widening of Civil Line Road and other roads on the alignment to 22-m width (despite the expiry of the October 15 revised deadline). The delay in reconstructing drains has in turn led to waterlogging at many areas on the alignment, Ms. Thomas said.

Responding to widespread concerns about the worsening of traffic snarls due to little effort being made to redevelop alternative roads and to widen roads through which the metro extension has been planned, official sources said that the widening work was on – especially in the St. Martin Church-Palarivattom corridor. The road at locales like Vazhakkala is yet to be widened since many electric and telecom posts have not been relocated.

On worksites where there is little or no activity, they said geotechnical studies were over, and ‘cross-trenching’ work was set to begin at such places to identify utility lines, if any. This would be followed by the commencement of piling. “Already, four rigs have been deployed at worksites. The focus now is on off-site and pre-casting works that are in full swing at the casting yard at Kalamassery. Approximately 60% of the work would take place at the yard and we are confident of adhering to the 18-month deadline to complete the 11.20-km metro viaduct,” they added.

The District Administration is readying a report on developing alternative corridors to divert vehicles, while KMRL has sought adequate funds to clear obstacles to traffic movement in these corridors. The road-widening work at a few locales has been hamstrung due to court cases, it is learnt.