The Kochi Corporation and MLAs representing the city will shortly chalk out an action plan to widen MG Road-Pullepady-Thammanam road in the wake of a recent clarification by Minister for Public Works G. Sudhakaran that his department will not take over the stretch from the Corporation.
The Corporation had passed a resolution a year ago handing over the crucial road to the Public Works Department (PWD). But formal handing over did not take place. Still, ₹100 crore from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) funds was set apart in the State budget to develop the road into a four-lane one.
Only 720 metres of the 3.8-km-long Thammanam-Pullepady road has been widened so far, over three decades since the Kochi Corporation decided to develop the road. As per the latest estimate, a total of over ₹230 crore is required to develop the M.G.Road-Pullepady-Thammanam corridor.
‘Govt decision’
Speaking to The Hindu , Minister for Public Works G. Sudhakaran said that the PWD did not have funds to take over the road. “The State government has taken a decision that the PWD will not take over any road from local bodies, heeding to the advice from the Finance Department,” he said.
Reacting to the issue, Hibi Eden, MLA, said the Oommen Chandy-led UDF government had allotted ₹25 crore in 2011 to kick-start the widening of the road. “The aim was to widen the busy but narrow Kathrikadavu-Karanakodam stretch on the road. It did not take place, though Mr. Chandy had assured another ₹25 crore if the first instalment was well spent,” he said. Subsequent to Minister Sudhakaran stating that the PWD will not take over the road and develop it into four-lane, a meeting was convened by District Collector K. Mohammed Y. Safirulla to discuss how best the total ₹125 crore allotted for the road can be utilised. The Collector cited the need to conduct a social impact assessment (SIA) since many dozen plots of land have to be acquired. This alone might take up to a year, Mr. Eden said.
To speed up the land acquisition process, he said the Corporation must once again file a request (before the government) to become the requisitioning agency. Already, survey was over in the M.G. Road-Thammanam stretch. The road must ideally be extended up to Chakkaraparambu on the NH Bypass to ensure better east-west connectivity in the city, he added.
Chairman of the Corporation’s Works Standing Committee P.M. Harris assured that a speedy, time-bound action plan would be readied to develop the road into an arterial corridor. “People’s representatives, including the Mayor, will be involved in the process. The road is crucial to decongest S.A. Road and Banerjee Road,” he said. A meeting would shortly be convened by the Collector to speed up the land acquisition and widening of the road, said Chairperson of the civic agency’s Town Planning Standing Committee Shiny Mathew.
Residents’ associations, merchant bodies and the samara samity spearheading the demand to develop the road have been citing the need to widen narrow parts of the road since traffic curbs will be imposed at Vyttila when work on the flyover and metro rail pick pace at the junction.
