Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has mulled acquiring land for pay-and-park lots near at least seven metro stations in Kochi metro’s Kakkanad extension. The Phase Two extension from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to Infopark will span 11.20 km and has been named the metro’s Pink Line.
Around ₹140 crore is required for the pay-and-park project, primarily for land acquisition, said Loknath Behera, managing director of the metro agency. “The proposal has been submitted to the State government, which has assured serious consideration. To reduce costs and address space constraints, the nine stations on the corridor have been designed smaller than those in the Aluva-Thripunithura Phase One corridor.”
“Of late, there has been growing public demand for adequate parking near metro stations. However, acquiring additional land is challenging. In this context, we started looking out for vacant plots near stations, even up to 50 metres away. KMRL has assured full support to landowners,” he added.
Meanwhile, M. S. Anilkumar, general convenor of the Thrikkakara Development Forum, has urged for sufficient pay-and-park facilities, particularly on the land owned by the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala at Collectorate Junction and at Infopark, primarily for metro commuters. “KMRL must develop multi-level parking lots near busy metro stations to optimise space. Besides, KINFRA should establish a mobility-cum-parking hub at Infopark, considering the expected rise in footfall due to the metro extension and the long-proposed Chakkaraparambu-Seaport-Airport Road. If necessary, this can be executed through a public-private partnership [PPP],” he said.
