Enraged at the over three-decade delay in extending Thammanam-Pullepady Road to M.G. Road and NH Bypass, and in developing it into a four-lane corridor, residents have petitioned the Minister for Public Works P.A. Mohamed Riyas, demanding the speeding up of the project.
They reminded the Minister in the petition that the proposal to hew out the 3.60-km-long road that would run parallel to S.A. Road and Banerjee Road dated back to as early as 1993 when the Kochi Corporation initiated the project. Many land owners, with foresight and generosity, supported the project, after realising its positive impact on Kochi. Many even surrendered their land (free of cost).
Referring to the project being entangled for years in red tape, land acquisition woes, and delay in finalising the alignment, the group of residents expressed dismay at it being stalled for years together (despite the PWD taking over the road from the Kochi Corporation and entrusting the Kerala Road Fund Board [KRFB] with its development).
“It is disheartening to witness bureaucratic disputes among government departments that are responsible for completing the road project. We urge you to take swift action to revive the dormant project, especially since it is more than an infra project. It represents the collective dream of residents,” they said in the petition.
In September, a group of 34 residents had petitioned the District Collector, seeking his attention to the project being in a dormant state for three decades, despite the government taking possession of the land that is necessary to build the road. They further sought an end to the ‘blame game’ among departments (regarding the alignment and allied matters) since landowners had sacrificed their life savings in surrendering their land for the project.
Alignment design
Official sources said the Kochi Corporation had handed over the alignment for the road to the KRFB in the first week of August. This was presented to the two MLAs through whose constituencies the road passed and subsequently handed over to the PWD (design wing) to take a call on the final design. The final alignment will in all probability be in sync with that which was handed over by the Corporation, barring at bus bays and junctions where more land might be needed to adhere to the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) norms.
Once it is finalised, the KIIFB’s permission will be sought and boundary stones will be laid, they added.
The delay in taking possession of a bulk of the land that is needed for the project too had invited much flak since bottlenecks abound in the corridor that was envisaged to provide seamless connectivity between M.G. Road and NH Bypass.
