Rs.741-cr. water transport project gets metro board nod.

The 23rd meeting of the Board of Directors of Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) that was held in Delhi recently approved the institutional and financial architecture of the integrated water transport project mooted by the agency in Greater Kochi region.

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Madhusoodan Prasad, Secretary, Urban Development and Chairman of the metro agency.

The Rs.741-crore integrated water transport project got the Centre’s approval earlier this month. The approval of German bank KfW, which is expected to provide a soft loan of Rs.595 crore, is awaited.

Another Rs.72 crore is required for land acquisition. A total of Rs.102 crore will be contributed by Kerala government to the project that aims to introduce 78 modern, air-conditioned vessels in Greater Kochi region, including to islands located in northern parts of the city.

Boat jetties will be built and existing ones renovated, while road connectivity to the jetties will be improved and streetlights installed. Feeder buses and autos too have been envisaged.

Two variants of air-conditioned and Wi-Fi enabled glass reinforced plastic (GRP) catamaran ferries with passenger capacity of 50 and 100 respectively have been recommended in the detailed project report prepared by the Urban Mass Transit Company Limited (UMTC). The boats will operate every 10 or 20 minutes, linking the city with West Kochi and other islands. Tourism is also proposed to be promoted as part of the project. Sixteen out of 38 jetties will be developed in the first phase. Two boatyards have been proposed, one each at Thevara and Pizhala.

The metro board also decided to start the preparation for the revenue operations of Kochi Metro by mid-2016 and asked the operations team to prepare the list of things to be done. The board also formed a committee for selection of director (projects).

The board further reviewed the project progress and the schedule of progress for the next few months.

THE HINDU