Even as the rolling out of the first Water Metro ferry has overshot its revised deadline by over six months, fresh trouble is brewing for Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL), as heritage enthusiasts have yet again objected to the construction of a jetty near the iconic Chinese fishing nets that dot the Fort Kochi beachfront.
A row of three heritage buildings located behind the nets — on land owned by the Cochin Port Trust — had been demolished in December 2020 to create space for the Water Metro’s Fort Kochi jetty, despite fiery opposition from heritage enthusiasts and conservation architects.
“KMRL still insists on building a jetty between two Chinese nets at the harbour mouth, despite safety implications,” said former Mayor K.J. Sohan, who is the convener of INTACH - Kerala, a heritage body that recently filed complaints before the Archaeology Department, following which works to commence the Water Metro’s jetty construction were halted.
“The complaint was made because the plea by NGOs, heritage bodies, and others to redevelop the unused tourist and Kochi Corporation jetties at Kamalakadavu, located only 250 metres away, close to the bus stand, fell on deaf ears. Apart from ensuring the safety of ferries, substantial funds can be saved if the existing jetties are put to proper use, rather than put commuters at the mercy of tidal variations and undercurrents at the harbour mouth,” he said.
The construction of the Water Metro jetty at Mattancherry too has been embroiled in delays, despite KMRL saying that ferries would operate on the Ernakulam-West Kochi route after operations begin on the Vyttila-Kakkanad stretch.
KMRL sources said efforts were being made to overcome issues that had delayed the construction of jetty terminals, including at Fort Kochi and Mattancherry, although the agency received a stop memo in this regard.
The Water Metro’s Operational Control Centre (OCC) next to its Vyttila jetty too has not been completed, over four months since Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the ₹747-crore project’s first route (to Kakkanad).