Kochi: Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) has failed to clock the deadline of March 2022 in completing the work in the 1.63 km S N Junction – Tripunithura stretch, reports said.
The contractors had agreed to complete the project in 20 months. Piling began in August 2020 and work is still going on. The tentative date given by KMTL to operate services through this section is in the first quarter of 2024.
The project was assigned at a cost of Rs 162.98 crore to KEC – VNC JV in July 2020 with a deadline of 20 months.Thankfully, the trial run has started through this section even as civil work of Tripunithura terminal station has not reached anywhere.
Piling work for its viaduct and the 25th station started in August 2020 and the final I-girder was launched in June 2023.After commissioning this section, KMRL will shift its focus towards 11.2 km work under Phase 2 project‘s Pink Line connecting JLN Stadium – Kakkanad – Infopark.
The initial efficiency of the KMRL has vanished as there are widespread complaints about its function.Washrooms are filthy, faulty entry and exit gates cause irritation to passengers, there is no physical screening of passengers as done in Bengaluru, among others.
Former Kerala DGP Loknath Behra was made the chief of the KMRL by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan after his retirement.
Photo Credit: KMRL
