Despite growing clamour from the local community to restore the 115-year-old Cochin Bridge and preserve it as a historical structure, the Public Works Department (PWD) has initiated the process to dismantle and sell the bridge which once connected Shoranur with Cheruthuruthy across the Bharathapuzha river. The department will soon invite online tenders to demolish and remove the bridge which once provided road connectivity to the princely State of Cochin from the erstwhile British rail head of Shoranur. Many a luminary, including Swami Vivekananda, used the bridge to enter Cochin after alighting from train at Shoranur.
As per the initial estimate of the PWD, the demolition cost would come to around Rs.30 lakh. After a major portion of the bridge collapsed four years ago, it remained almost abandoned with debris scattered over the riverbed. According to PWD (Roads) assistant engineer Abdul Salam, the decision to demolish the bridge was taken in view of the risk it posed to people who continue to walk on the bridge.
The structure, built with the assistance of British engineers by the then Cochin king Rama Varma, was the first bridge across Bharathapuzha, the second largest river in the State.
The river then marked the boundary between Cochin and British Malabar.
Rama Varma, who was hailed as a progressive ruler, wanted to extend the railway line that came up to Shoranur to Cochin. Under the king’s initiative, the Ernakulam-Shoranur railway line was built.
The first train ran on it in June 1902. Railway historian Devan Varma says the king sold some of the royal family’s possessions, including the nettipattam (caparison) of elephants, to fund the project.
Local history enthusiasts say the Cochin Bridge, built with the technical aid of the British, was part of the original Ernakulam-Shoranur railway line.
The railway bridge that is now part of the rail line was built later.
The Cochin Bridge, over 300 m long with 15 spans, was first only a railway bridge. Later, road was constructed on it. The bridge had been in disuse for a few years before it collapsed.
A new bridge was built a few metres away. For the people of Shoranur and Cheruthuruthy, the old bridge was a link to the past. It is still a favoured haunt for those who want to enjoy the river’s beauty.
