Earmarking of ₹1 crore to study the feasibility of a ring road linking Angamaly with Ezhupunna in Alappuzha, through Puthen Cruz, Mulanthuruthy, and Poothotta, was among the highlights of the annual budget of the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) presented by its Chairman K. Chandran Pillai on Thursday.
Shortly after assuming charge as the head of the agency earlier this year, he had cited the need to revisit the road’s alignment, in keeping with the times.
He further spoke of the need to develop eastern and north-eastern parts of the district, since Kochi is among the coastal cities identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as vulnerable to up to 25 cm sea level rise by 2050. A 50 sq km area is vulnerable to the phenomenon. The ring road must also redress threats posed by urbanisation and worsening traffic congestion, Mr. Pillai said.
