The $1.8 billion ‘Sky City’ project planned by UAE-based investors in Kochi, commercial capital of the south Indian state of Kerala, is yet to take off due to environmental groups protesting the planned erection of huge pillars in the backwaters of the city, but the city’s municipal corporation is strongly supporting the project as a viable means of reducing traffic congestion, according to Tomy Chimmani, Mayor of Kochi.
Speaking to Emirates 24|7 during a short visit to the UAE, Chimmani said the project is still alive but it has been delayed by five years due to objection from green groups concerned about erecting concrete pillars along the city’s coast.
The Sky City project was counting on the participation of UAE- based investors and companies which have experience in reclaiming offshore land in projects like Dubai’s Palms and the World and Abu Dhabi’s Breakwater and Al Raha Beach development, the mayor said.
“We cannot approve of environmental groups who blindly oppose all development projects. Investors from the UAE were studying the Sky City project, which involved building three-storey apartment blocks, shopping centres, leisure facilities and amenities like pedestrian paths and car parks built on the highway platform. There could also be helipads and marine transport,” Chimmani said.
The mayor was in the UAE to launch ‘Cochin Cares’, a new philanthropic group formed by expatriates from Kochi to start ‘smart class rooms’ in selected schools in Kochi and to provide free dialysis for low-income kidney patients.
“Sky City is the only viable alternative in an already crowded city and it will help ease traffic congestion without acquiring land from residents since this project is planned along the coastal backwaters of Kochi,” he said.
The Sky City project, originally planned by the UAE- based investors, involves building an 8km-long elevated highway above an existing 4.2km bridge that carries traffic over water. The proposed new road would be lined on both sides with 20,000 square metres of residential and commercial space.
The Sky City project involves development of a 20 to 30 metre high bridge above the existing Maradu-Thevara Bridge and development of residential and commercial buildings.
OY Ahmed Khan, chief patron of Cochin Cares, said Kochi-based NRIs in the UAE have joined hands to help set up free dialysis units at the district hospital for patients who cannot afford this expensive medical treatment. Young Men International and Cochin Municipal Corporation will join hands with Cochin Cares to set up a new block in the hospital and provide dialysis machinery.
TM Naser, president of Cochin Cares, said the group is also planning to launch “smart class rooms” in selected schools in Kochi and to give scholarship for poor, meritorious students. “The Smart Class Room will be a unique IT project to help schools in Kochi identify hidden talent in students. Our smart class rooms will be more advanced than the existing IT labs in Kerala schools,” Naser said.
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