With the inauguration of the Panniyankara rail overbridge (ROB) by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday, a long pending dream of the city finally became a reality.
Local residents joined Ministers, political leaders and councillors to celebrate the official inauguration of the bridge. Clubs made merry by distributing payasam and band troupes performed on the bridge.
All these years, the people of Payyanakkal and Chakkumkkadavu have had a harrowing time, travelling 3.5 km to reach the city. The narrow Kallai Road would become congested when the railway gate at Payyanakkal closed. “Now a big traffic problem on the arterial road has been solved,” the Chief Minister said.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) tasked with the work was able to construct the bridge at a cost of Rs.40 crore though the original estimate was pegged at Rs.50.16 crore.
Presiding over the inaugural function, Minister for Public Works G. Sudhakaran said the State government had planned to execute road projects worth Rs.1,000 crore for Kozhikode city under the Kerala Road Fund Board.
Project over the years
Tracing the history of the project, DMRC Principal Advisor E. Sreedharan said the State government had given administrative sanction of Rs.6.25 crore for the Panniyankara road overbridge on May 22, 1997. It was then conceived as a 400-metre L-shaped bridge over the rail line connecting Payyanakkal to Kozhikode. However, the project was delayed due to land acquisition. The State government on August 18, 2005, gave administrative sanction of Rs.60 lakh to acquire land. Subsequently, a sum of Rs.40 crore was allotted for the project.
At the time, the government had proposed a mono rail project from Medical College to Meenchanda. So the alignment had to be altered to suit the mono rail project. Thus, the DMRC, which had been tasked with project in August 2012, submitted a proposal with a T-shape overbridge with provision for proceeding from Payyanakkal to Kozhikode and Meenchanda sides, Mr. Sreedharan said.
The construction activities began in April 2014 and the time allotted was 18 months. But, the completion was delayed by a year. Of the 141 cents required for the project, the land acquired was 98 cents.
