‘Metroman’ cautions against further delay in metro project

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Cautioning against further delay in implementing the Kochi metro project, DMRC principal adviser E. Sreedharan said each day of delay would increase the cost byRs 40 lakh that may make the project financially unviable.

“Despite the state’s repe-ated assurance that work would be handed over to the DMRC, the former is yet to sign an agreement.

This is preventing us from starting the main work. We’ve completed all formalities for floating tende-rs and are in a position to float the same for the most complex work within a week of signing the MoU,” said the Metroman at a function here on Tuesday.

He rued the fact that though the DMRC had submitted the project rep-ort way back in 2005, it took seven years for the project to actually materialise.

“The project cost has now doubled to Rs 5,182 crore from Rs 2,250 crore. The practical difficulties have also gone up in terms of road congestion and other factors”.

He said DMRC has plan-ned steps like minimum investment, with a goal to making the project viable.

He also harped on the need to further expand the Metro project after phase-1 (Aluva to Pettah), like the Delhi metro system.