Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Friday inaugurated the first phase of Bund Road built by the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA).
In his inaugural address, Mr. Chennithala said GCDA’s projects exemplified the fact that development should be undertaken with the cooperation of the people.
The road constructed after being in a limbo for almost three decades, incidentally is the first road to be named after the late jurist, V.R. Krishna Iyer. The Minister also unveiled the name board.
Delivering the keynote address, literary critic M.K. Sanoo said it was a fitting tribute to name the road after the legal luminary.
The first reach of the 15-metre-wide and almost one-kilometre-long road between Shastri Nagar and K.P. Vallon Road had been surfaced under the Bitumen Macadam and Bitumen Concrete (BMBC) method. It was completed in nine months at a cost of Rs. 2.50 crore shared between the State government and the GCDA.
GCDA chairman N. Venugopal said the new road would ease traffic considerably since motorists proceeding from Thevara could reach Chilavannoor, Panampilly Nagar and beyond by avoiding the traffic-clogged S.A. Road and M.G. Road through Kasturba Nagar, Shastri Nagar, and K.P. Vallon road.
The GCDA has decided to complete the remaining stretch of the road for which the District Collector, M.G. Rajamanickam, had been entrusted with acquiring 72 cents under negotiated purchase.
Steps to complete the acquisition process would be taken at the meeting to be held on May 25, Mr. Venugopal said.
