Dist administration to hold talks with locals

KOCHI: The district administration and the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) have decided to hold a meeting with the residents associations and other parties concerned on the land acquisition for the widening of the Vyttila-Petta Road. The decision was taken at a review meeting for the preparatory works of the Metro Rail. The local people had opposed the survey for the widening of the Vyttila-Petta stretch. The residents associations had demanded that the widening may be restricted to 26 metres on congested stretches. “The state policy is to have roads with 30 metres width. In the long term, reducing the width of the stretch can have repercussions on the traffic in the city,”  KMRL managing director Tom Jose said.The land acquisition on Banerjee Road and M G Road were discussed at the meeting.  A district-level purchase committee (DLPC) meeting will be held on February 4 based on which a state-level committee report will be submitted. This is the fourth DLPC report. “The preparatory works at the North RoB and the Salim Rajan Road have been found to be satisfactory. There are a few hiccups, but on the whole the works were found to be quite satisfactory,” Jose said.