The collapse of two girders of the under-construction Moolampally-Pizhala bridge on Saturday afternoon has cast a long shadow over the dreams of more than 1,500 families on Pizhala island.
Pizhala is the only island among the cluster of islands near Ernakulam that still does not have connectivity to the mainland.
The wait for a bridge has been long. The islanders still depend on a ferry for their journey to the mainland. The demand for the bridge began way back in 2004 when the Goshree bridges were inaugurated. The islanders had organised themselves to raise the demand with the district administration.
However, what may be recalled immediately is that work on the bridge appears to be jinxed. The islanders still remember that the inauguration of work on the Moolampally-Pizhala bridge was postponed in January 2006 after the then chief minister Oommen Chandy was injured after he slipped and fell at Davos in Switzerland during a meeting of the World Economic Forum. The bridge works were to be launched on the last day of January in 2006 and it was put off.
Development standing committee chairman of Kadamakkudy panchayat E.X. Benny said the present work had been progressing fast before the girders collapsed. He said the islanders had been waiting for the bridge for a long time and expected the works to be completed without any hurdles.
Road link
The Mooalampally-Pizhala bridge is part of the road that will link Pizhala and the neighbouring areas to North Paravoor. Three bridges are to be built on this stretch.
“Of these, work has not begun on the Pizhala-Kadamakkudy bridge,” said an islander.
Work on the Kadamakkudy-Chathanad bridge has been completed while the approach roads are to be completed.
Sources said the collapse of the girders would be inquired into and work on the bridge would resume only after the reasons behind the collapse were ascertained.
