Kochi Metro project office to be set up soon

KOCHI: The Kochi Metro Rail project will soon get its own office.A meeting convened by Ernakulam District Collector P I Sheik Pareeth on Wednesday decided to lease out enough space at the Revenue Tower in the city to house the office of the dream project.The District Collector said that the new office would be on the eighth floor of the Revenue Tower. The inauguration of the office will be held soon.The authorities are planning to organise the ceremony soon after the end of the current session of the Legislative Assembly.Marking the beginning of the preparatory works, the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) had handed over its land at Manappattiparambu to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to store the machines to reconstruct the North ROB. The State Government had allotted around Rs 158 crore for the preparatory work.The authorities have decided to start the construction of the flyover near the KSRTC stand within a fortnight.The estimated cost of the flyover connecting Mullassery Canal Road and Salim Rajan Road is Rs 37.5 crore. While acquiring the land, three families in the area will have to be rehabilitated.The authorities have already identified the land to rehabilitate the evictees.The value of the land to be taken over has been fixed. The distribution of the titles of the land to be distributed in lieu of the land surrendered and the compensation also will be held during the inauguration of the work. The new flyover will have sevenandahalfmetre wide road plus footpaths.