Kozhikode likely to have Monorail by 2015

KOZHIKODE:  The city could have a monorail buzzing above its roads by as early as June 2015, if former Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan is allowed to carry out his plans, as the Metro Man has agreed to take up the leadership of the project after a meeting with Works Minister V K Ebrahim Kunju at the PWD Guest House here on Monday.Talking to the press after the meeting, both Ebrahim Kunju and Sreedharan said that the project can be commissioned by June 2015. “A detailed project report as Sreedharan has asked, will be prepared and this task will be entrusted to theDelhi Metro Rail. A corporation with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy as chairman will be formed and this company will have the ownership of the monorail,” said Ebrahim Kunju.Original plans have also been modified with the new path of the monorail now including the Civil Station, a stop that had not been included in the initial report. The rail will also connect the Railway Station while plans are also afoot to extend it to Malaparamba and West Hill.The new path covers an area of 14.5km and, according to Sreedharan’s estimates, will cost around Rs 1,740 crore by the time it is commissioned. A maximum of 3 hectares of land will have to be taken up for the rail. The train will have a total of five bogeys. The Express had earlier reported that Sreedharan had favoured a public sector undertaking instead of a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) as had been discussed earlier, and his insistence won through in the end with the minister announcing that the monorail would be entirely public funded with 25 per cent coming from the Central Government and another quarter coming from the Indian Infrastructure Finance Company. Sreedharan explained that he had insisted for a public sector endeavour because he feared that a PPP model might hold up the commencement of work. “The regulations to appoint necessary officials in a PPP are strict and the process will take at least two years. Hence public sector was the way to go,” said Sreedharan.Kerala Road Fund Board Chief Executive Officer P C Harikesh, general manager Sudarshanan Pillai, PWD Chief Engineer T Baburaj and District Collector P B Salim participated in the meeting.

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