Kochi Metro, eight years on the rails, is racing to deliver its second-phase extension from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to Infopark via Kakkanad after Afcons Infrastructure took the contract in June 2024 with a 600-day target. Setbacks over road-widening and shifting overhead power lines have pushed completion to December 2026, yet Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) says the timetable is now back on track thanks to round-the-clock piling even in the monsoon.

To date, 552 piles—about 28 per cent of the viaduct requirement—are in place, while roughly 1.5 per cent of pile caps, 6 per cent of U-girders, 5 per cent of pier caps and 1.2 per cent of I-girders are finished. Ground-based tasks such as geotechnical and utility investigations are largely done, allowing precast superstructure elements to be fabricated at the Kalamassery casting yard for swift installation once site foundations are ready.

KMRL has rolled out a wet-weather regimen: stockpiling materials, reinforcing temporary works, clearing drains and culverts, deploying emergency-response teams and posting thirty traffic wardens at critical junctions to keep vehicles moving safely.

The agency insists the heavy lifting—literally and figuratively—is under control, with pier construction about to begin and precast segments poised for rapid erection. If the current momentum holds, commuters could ride the 11.2-kilometre Kakkanad spur well before the metro celebrates its twelfth anniversary.