Civil works of the Kochi metro are lagging behind schedule at many work sites due to delay in shifting water and power lines.
Contractors of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) are unable to adhere to the 75-day timeframe for constructing pillars in each site. This has resulted in the central portion of many roads being barricaded for over five months.
Metro sources said the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) and the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) had ensured speedy relocation of pipelines, posts and cables for metro’s preparatory works such as reconstruction of North overbridge.
“These agencies are somehow unable to ensure a similar pace to pave the way for metro’s viaduct construction.”
A KWA official said proper sketches of pipelines were unavailable, following which their precise location on different roads is not known at many places. Subsequently, they get ruptured when piling is done for metro’s pillars.
A metro official said a contracting firm was unable to commence full-fledged piling at a work site near Maharaja’s College ground because of delay in relocating a big pipeline from the centre of the road.
“The KWA did not even have a clear idea of the pipeline’s width. At Kadavanthra, we were shocked to discover a pipeline though they said there was none. Similarly, though DMRC contractors were prepared to relocate a few KSEB utilities to ensure speedy metro works, this was opposed by a few KSEB officials.”
Delay in widening roads due to slow pace of land acquisition is also holding up metro works, in places such as Kaloor and Lissie Junction. “A wider portion of the roads will have to be barricaded for pile capping and this is impossible unless roads are widened,” metro sources said.
