KOCHI: Extension of the Kochi Metro to Kakkanad might just be a distant dream. There is not only any provision for the extension in the first line of the Metro Rail but also no feasibility-study has been done on it.
“We can only say that whoever is talking about the extension of the Metro Rail to Kakkanad is just speculating. As of now we do not have any data, study or any information on the feasibility of extending the Metro Rail to Kakkanad.
We have not even commissioned a team to conduct a study,” said Metro Rail Ltd Managing Director Tom Jose. He said that the focus is on completing the Aluva-Petta line. “Right now our objective is to get the first line completed and approved. It does not make a good managerial sense to talk about extending the metro throughout the city when it has not even completed in the first place,” said Jose. According to the current estimate, the extension to Kakkanad will cost the exchequer a whopping `1,760 crore, an amount which many say will be too much for a city like Kochi to bear. “It costs `220 crore to construct one kilometre of the metro rail.
This would mean `1,760 crore for the eight-kilometre stretch to Kakkanad. With an amount as less as `100 crore you can put an end to the water woes of the city. Even if you are looking at the transportation system, there are a number of options such as water transport and railway lines which remain more feasible,” said K J Sohan, Chairman of the Town Planning Committee.
The first line of the Kochi Metro Rail which would extend from Aluva to Petta in Tripunithura is to be completed in three years. The Metro, which is to be built at a cost of around `5,000 crore, is expected to ease the transportation problems in the city.
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