District administration has intensified measures for acquiring land for Metro extension to Kakkanad as well as to Tripunithura in Kochi, Kerala.

The revenue department issued 11 (1) notification prior to acquiring land for widening the road along the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium-Kakkanad stretch on 17 June 2020.

The district administration has adopted fast-track method for completing the land acquisition in a time-bound manner. Review meetings of a committee comprising revenue department officials and Kochi Metro Rail (KMRL) will be held every week.

To facilitate construction of the Metro’s viaduct, the road along Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium- Kakkanad stretch will have to be widened. More than seven acre will have to be acquired for widening the road along the stretch.

The authorities have conducted social impact assessment prior to land acquisition for widening Kakkanad-Chittethukara stretch of Seaport-Airport Road. Public hearing as part of the acquisition will be held on 8 July 2020. The authorities have started widening of the road in the areas where land is available.

After reaching Kakkanad, Metro’s alignment will be via Seaport-Airport Road and it will turn to the left at Chittethukara via four-lane highway to reach Infopark. There will be 11 stations along the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium-Infopark stretch.

Metro’s Kakkanad extension will cover 11.17 km and the cost estimated a few years ago was around Rs 2,400 crore. The roads will have to be widened to 22 mtr along the Metro corridor.

The Union government is yet to give final approval for the Kakkanad extension project.

Measures for speeding up the land acquisition for the Metro station at Vadakkekotta have also been started. The rehabilitation and resettlement package for the evictees has been prepared.

Around 2.40 acre will have to be acquired for Vadakkekota station. For widening the road from SN Junction to Tripunithura, around 185 cents will have to be acquired. Efforts to acquire additional land required for improving the facilities at Edapally and Ernakulam South stations have also gained momentum.