With the completion of greening of medians beneath the Kochi metro corridor remaining a far cry over five years since the mass rapid transport system was commissioned, Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has decided to descope medians that have not been preened up from the ambit of firms that had been vested with the greening drive.
Around 70% of medians have already been decked up using shoeflower and other plants. The upkeep of rest of the medians will in turn be handed over to shops and other commercial establishments on a one-to-one basis, after inviting Expression of Interest (EoI). They would be permitted to install small boards bearing their names, official sources said.
They attributed the manifold hassles in watering and maintaining plants as among the reasons for many medians beneath the metro corridor remaining weed infested or as eyesores since 2017 when the metro’s Aluva-Palarivattom stretch was commissioned. Watering the plants is permitted only at night, while beggars have taken over medians such as the ones at Kaloor to sleep, they added.
KMRL had over a year ago entrusted Treescapes India with the task of greening medians beneath the Edappally-Vyttila corridor with shoeflower plants. Its managing director Alex Chacko spoke of the difficulties in greening many medians since they were filled with construction debris and other waste. “Incidents of unscrupulous people stamping over saplings, uprooting them or making away with them, too is rampant. We have thus decided to replace shoeflower plants with pandanus and tecoma plants, which are less prone to be stolen. They also need less water,” he said.
Fencing the medians using PVC mesh too is under consideration. It has also been decided to limit watering to two or three times every week, considering water scarcity and increasing expenses. There are also instances of sponsors refusing to pay the promised fee for maintaining medians, it is learnt.
In the meantime, pedestrians and others have been demanding dedicated, well-lit spaces at frequent intervals on medians beneath the metro corridor, to safely cross the road.