The reports for the Light Metro rail projects proposed for Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode must be forwarded to the Centre as per the new Metro Rail Act, 2017 for speedy sanction, Union Minister for Urban Development and Housing Hardeep Singh Puri said.
He also called upon Kochi Metro Rail Limited to speed up work on the seven-km Maharaja’s Ground-Pettah corridor so that the metro could decongest the city and become viable.
Mr. Puri was giving the presidential address at the inauguration of the metro’s five-km international stadium-MG Road (up to Maharaja’s College Ground) corridor here on Tuesday.
The 18-km metro corridor will provide a fillip to public transport in the city, he said lauding the KMRL’s efforts to integrate the metro with different commuting modes. .
In his inaugural address, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the State would coordinate with the Centre for speedy implementation of the Light Metro projects for Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode.
He said the Kochi metro’s Thripunithura and Kakkanad extensions would be realised faster by speeding up land acquisition. The Angamaly and international airport extensions could follow suit.
Referring to the need to augment road infrastructure in Kerala, Mr. Vijayan said work on widening the NH and the coastal and hill highways would be taken up on a war footing. The Kollam-Kottapuram National Waterway III would become operational by 2020.
Prior to the formal inauguration, Mr. Vijayan and Mr. Puri jointly flagged off the metro’s MG Road extension at the international stadium station.
E. Sreedharan, Principal Adviser, DMRC, the metro’s implementing agency, said the 18-km Aluva-MG Road corridor was completed in a record four years and four months.
Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, Union Urban Development Secretary Durga Sankar Mishra, K.V. Thomas, MP, and KMR’s MD Elias George were among those present.