Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Bridge work to resume soon

Thiruvananthapuram: Twenty years after taking up the construction of a new bridge across the Killi river at Maruthankuzhy, the stalled project has received a fresh lease of life.

The State government has allocated funds for the project in the annual budget for 2008-09.

The bridge was conceived as a solution to the traffic congestion on the old Maruthankuzhy bridge that links the city to Kattakada and Aruvikkara. The original plan was to divert traffic along one side through the new road connecting the Maruthankuzhy market to the Sasthamangalam Hospital junction with a bridge across the river. The contract was awarded to the Kerala State Construction Corporation and work began in 1988 but ground to a halt after the construction of pillars on either side of the river.

The project was held up after the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) raised objections, citing the proximity of a major pipeline servicing the Thirumala zone. Efforts to settle the issue remained deadlocked, as the KWA insisted on a realignment of the new road and bridge.

With the project facing an uncertain future, the government decided to reconstruct the old Maruthankuzhy bridge. The completion of the restoration in 1996 sealed the fate of the project.

Vasudevan, president of the River Valley Residents’ Association, who raised the issue on the Sutharya Keralam interactive TV programme, secured an assurance from Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan that work on the project would resume soon. The government has allocated Rs. 12 crore in the budget.

Earlier, acting on a private complaint citing a report in The Hindu in January 2006, the Lok Ayukta had issued notice to the Public Works Department and the KWA seeking explanation for the tardy progress of the project. “The contentious issues were resolved by the chief engineers,” said Mr. Vasudevan, who invoked the Right to Information Act to know the status of the project.

The residents of the area had been on the warpath against the failure to resume work on the bridge. They feel that the project has been a victim of the lack of coordination between government agencies.

Technical objections should have been sorted out before the project was cleared by the government, they point out.

A large number of pedestrians prefer to use the KWA pipeline to cross the river, unmindful of the danger involved. Many have slipped and fallen into the river.

Officials maintain that the project is still relevant. “The new bridge will help to divert 50 per cent of the traffic. By introducing one-way traffic, both the bridges can be used in conjunction,” a PWD official says.

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