Monorail likely to be longer

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The proposed monorail project in the capital city could find itself longer by about 13 kilometres, if an extension is actually found viable. If the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) says an ‘aye,’ the project would link Mangalapuram and Neyyattinkara instead of the original alignment linking Kazhakkoottam and Balaramapuram.Bowing to popular demand, the Cabinet on Wednesday decided to ask NATPAC to include in its study the possibility of extending the project to Mangalapuram in the north and Neyyattinkara in the south.“According to the original decision, the project would have spanned 28 km from Kazhakkoottam to Balaramapuram,” Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told reporters after the weekly Cabinet meeting here on Wednesday.Ever since the monorail project was announced, there have been demands from different quarters to extend it to outlying towns in the Thiruvananthapuram district, including Attingal, Parassala, Neyyattinkara and Kallambalam. The attraction of Mangalapuram is that it is the location for the proposed Technocity project.Besides, there is land available in the region for establishing a rail yard for the monorail. NATPAC is conducting the feasibility study for the multi-crore project, which is one of the two planned in the state. The feasibility study for the monorail project at Kozhikode has been completed, the Chief Minister said.“The government will now move ahead with the further procedures,” Chandy said. The Kozhikode project links the Kozhikode Medical College and Ramanattukara.Vizhinjam ProjectWednesday’s Cabinet meeting formally approved the technical bids for the two firms that had bid for the private partner’s post in the Vizhinjam multi-crore seaport project, the Chief Minister said.A consortium consisting of Welspun Infratech Ltd, Welspun Corp and Leighton Welspun Contractors and Mundra Ports and Special Economic Zone had submitted bids for the project. The government will also open their financial bids on getting security clearance from the Centre, Chandy said.