Kochi, Feb 17 (IANS): The officials of Kochi Metro, the only metro in operation in Kerala has identified a slight slant in the track above pillar number 347.

This was detected in a routine examination of the track early this month and following that the speed of the trains passing through the point was reduced from 35 kms per hours to 20 kms per hour.

Officials have identified that this has occurred due to a settlement crack and in a press statement issued by the operators they said this could possibly be on account of the likely changes in the properties of subsoil and bearing strata, marginally affecting the substructure, and causing the misalignment in track.

The operators have sought the assistance of DMRC who were the implementing agency then and with many of the officials who were then part of DMRC presently working with the Kochi Metro Rail Corporation, the operators have been able to go forward with their plans to find a solution for it.

It was Metroman E. Sreedharan who was the chief who oversaw the Kochi Metro when Oommen Chandy (2011-16) headed the state and it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who inaugurated it in June 2017.