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Our own Bridge of Sighs
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What the city of Kochi lacks is an identity symbol. One landmark that is sure to fit the bill is our own Bridge of Sighs, reasons VINCENT PANIKULANGARA.
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Pic: by Mahesh Harila
THE CITY of Kochi is fondly called the Queen of the Arabian Sea, without realising that the official name of the nearby sea is the Lakshadweep Sea. Kochi, the largest city in God's Own Country, has no identifying symbol, or landmark like the Qutab Minar in Delhi, the Gateway of India in Mumbai or the Charminar in Hyderabad. Elsewhere, New York has the Statue of Liberty, Paris has the Eiffel Tower and Washington DC, the Capitol. Unfortunately, this city is not situated on the banks of any great river like the Seine in Paris, the Thames in London, the Tiber in Rome or the Hudson in Washington D.C. Don't we need a permanent, unique identifying symbol for our city?
Perhaps the easiest one would be the waterlogged streets of this burgeoning city. But then, at least for a few months in summer this identification mark would disappear. Then there are our own mosquitoes. But again even they take a break, especially during mid-day. What about the stench that usually wafts through the city? But a strong wind sometimes saves us from this `pleasure.'
Turn towards some of our structures then. Although the Koonan Kurisu Sathyam took place at Mattancherry in 1653, there is nothing to mark this event, like a leaning cross or something. There was this multi-storied building near the Marine Drive that had a definite slant, leaning like the famous Tower of Pizza, but the rather `unimaginative' owners pulled it down a few years back.
Of course, there are certain locations in our city, which need no name board. Our markets, for example, that are easily identified by their smell. Kochi is blessed with a number of bridges. Being surrounded with backwaters, there are more than a dozen bridges within the city limits. This is apart from the innumerable number of small bridges across the canals.
Overbridges
The city is also blessed with three Railway over bridges and two under bridges. Technically, a bridge is defined as a structure carrying a road, path or railway over an obstacle. There are three main types of bridges, namely arch bridges, girder bridges and suspension bridges. The greatest spans are achieved by suspension bridges, the longest at present being the Humber Bridge in England. Bosporus, Brooklyn, Golden Gate, Humber, London, Rialto, Sydney Harbour etc are some of the other famous ones. Kochi has a Rainbow Bridge and one commonly called Cheenavala-bridge along the Marine Drive Walkway. There is the historic Mattancherry Bridge that has a portion, which can be lifted to facilitate the movement of vessels.
Bridges, the world over, vary in length, width and architecture. However, for any bridge there will only be one bottom level and one top level. But we have a unique railway over bridge with different levels at the bottom and at the top. It has no name of its own. Popularly known as the North Over Bridge, this one is a terror for even the most expert driver. This multi-level bridge is steep and it has a serpentine course. It is a standing monument to extra-engineering influences in determining the alignment of even a bridge. This engineering marvel, across the rail lines, has three different bottom levels and five different top levels. This unique feature distinguishes the bridge from any other one in the world. It is a combination of three bridges. When one travels from Kaloor to Kacherippadi, at the left extreme we have a bridge that is 10 feet in width and nearly 15 feet in height at the centre. It offers protection on the left side by handrails and on the right side by a wall touching the next bridge. The next bridge is the oldest one, 30 feet in width and less than 20 feet in height at the centre. On both sides of this bridge there are walkways of differing heights and handrails. It is very doubtful if any one uses these walkways. On the right hand side there is yet another bridge, which is similar to the first one.
Ingenious structure
This is an ingenious piece of architecture. At the bottom level the middle bridge is almost six feet higher than that of the other two bridges. The traffic management on either side of the bridges requires a sorting of the vehicles. Two and three wheelers go along the side bridges and others along the middle bridge. This necessitates cutting across of vehicles on both sides, at the entry and the exit, escalating chances for accidents. It remains a miracle that we are still able to drive along this sector of our city. Certainly the architects need to be admired for this engineering marvel.
Ignored
More than that, what needs to be admired is the insensitivity of our administrators, who travel along this `great bridge' everyday but apparently seem to take no note of this. Of course, there is no reason why they should for they are mostly speeding through in their chauffer-driven vehicles. No one ever talks about a single level broad bridge in its place. Every one seems to have accepted this bridge as a feature of the city.
In that case, this bridge gets that honour. It can be declared as the identifying mark of Kochi.
Now it needs a befitting name. May be we could safely borrow a name from one of those many bridges in Venice. There is an enclosed 16th century bridge here through which condemned prisoners used to pass from the Doge's Palace to the Pozzi prison. It is named The Bridge of Sighs!
Whenever we climb this bridge of ours, after squeezing through a real riot of smoking vehicles, then cross this Bridge of Sighs unscathed, we are sure to heave a huge sigh of relief.
Let us for a moment remember the great architects of this Bridge of Sighs for its architectural marvel and also thank our administrators for fondly retaining this intact as a city monument.
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