The State Cabinet has decided to extend the maximum probable route length of the proposed monorail project for the State Capital. Announcing this to newsperson after a meeting of the State Cabinet here on Wednesday, the Kerala Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, said that the project would now extend further north of Kazhakkoottam to southward of Balaramapuram to Neyyattinkara at the other end. Initial costs The 28-km corridor, as initially projected, is estimated to cost about Rs 1,500 crore at an expected Economic Internal Rate of Return of over 20 per cent. The National Transportation Planning and Research Centre, an R&D institution under the Department of Science, Technology and environment, Government of Kerala, has been entrusted with the task of conducting a feasibility survey on the project. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister announced that the feasibility study for a monorail project for the city of Kozhikode has been completed. Modal share The monorail is being promoted as part of a long-term and economical solution to transportation problems as also to discourage personalised modes of transport. It is estimated that 40 per cent of the present traffic can be taken off the road from the capital city once monorail comes. The monorail is also expected to improve mass transportation and increase its present modal share of about 35 per cent in Thiruvananthapuram to about 60 per cent. Monorail has been found to be the most suited system for the volume of passenger traffic and the conditions prevailing on roads in medium-sized cities such as Thiruvananthapuram. R&R POLICY In another major development, the Chief Minister said that the Cabinet has approved the revised draft of the resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) policy for expeditious settlement of rights pertaining to owners of titles whose land is acquired by the State Government as part of development programmes. All rightful claims of owners of such of property would be fully protected, the chief Minister added. The specifics of the document would be announced separately by the Revenue Minister, Mr Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan.