Madurai corpn moots metro station at congested Yanaikkal

MADURAI: Madurai corporation has requested Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), the implementing agency for Madurai Metro, to consider establishing a metro station at Yanaikkal due to the high passenger traffic on the stretch. At a meeting held on Tuesday with stakeholders, CMRL put forward a list of land parcels that will have to be acquired from the city corporation for the metro rail project.

Corporation sources said Yanaikkal is a congested intersection with traffic from Keelaveli street, East Masi street and North Veli street. A metro station here would help residents of Sellur and East Masi street to catch a metro to go to Meenakshi Amman temple, railway junction and Periyar bus stand without reaching Simmakkal station, which is 600 metres away. CMRL has also altered the alignment of the underground track under Periyar bus stand to its periphery on the request of the corporation. Corporation commissioner Simranjeet Singh Kahlon told TOI that this was to avoid further damage to the bus stand area already battered by construction work.
Meanwhile, CMRL on Wednesday started soil testing in Vaigai riverbed for the project. According to its officials, soil tests have been completed at as many as 68 places in the city out of the 75 chosen as part of preparing a detailed project report (DPR) for the project. The tests will be over by the end of this month. An official said that a 30-metre-deep pit is dug at various spots in the riverbed and soil samples taken for testing. Samples were being taken from Alwarpuram, Goripalayam and near Albert Victor Bridge. They will be sent to National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), an accredited laboratory in Hyderabad.
Of the total 31-kilometre stretch from Thirumangalam to Othakadai, as much as 26 kilometres will be constructed as elevated flyovers and five kilometres underground. Soil tests for both underground and elevated stations will reveal the feasibility of the respective stations. The elevated rail is proposed to be 15 metres above the ground level and the underground portion at a depth of 18 to 20 metres. These aspects will be finalised based on the soil tests conducted on every half a kilometre of the proposed stretch, said the official. Apart from the soil tests, CMRL is conducting drone surveys in various parts of the city after obtaining permission from city police.