The worsening traffic congestion in the city’s densely-populated northern and north-western areas has intensified the demand to construct the long-overdue Vaduthala overbridge and the ring road, yet another pending project.
Residents have for long been holding that an overbridge at Vaduthala is required to temporarily ease congestion, and that the Pachalam overbridge, which was built as part of the Kochi metro’s preparatory work, alone is not enough. The Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK) had readied a project report for an overbridge here, apart from similar structures at Vathuruthy and Atlantis.
The impending development of the Goshree-Mamangalam Road will increase the number of vehicles passing through the northern parts of the city. Chittoor Road, one of the foremost roads built in the State, turns extremely narrow on the Pachalam-Chittoor stretch. Such bottlenecked areas must be widened alongside the construction of the Vaduthala bridge. “The ring road, which will usher in development of the entire coastal belt, must be developed in the long run,” said Felix J. Pullooden, president of Greater Kochi Development Watch, an NGO which has been spearheading the demand to augment roads and allied infrastructure in the region.
The first phase of the ring road project mooted by the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) begins from Chathiath and ends at Varapuzha, after passing through Vaduthala, Chittoor, and Kothad.
The ring road can be realised easier now than a few years before, since the revised Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms permit reclamation of waterbodies, if need be, for public infrastructure projects, said Ebenser Chullikat, who is among the activists who have been demanding seamless integration of commuting modes in Kochi.
The GCDA, which mooted the ring road, will have to work in tandem with GIDA, under whose jurisdiction areas like Kothad fall, to realise the ring road project. Its project report says that land reclaimed from waterbodies must be sold and the proceeds invested in the road project, if there is difficulty in sourcing funds. This will in turn usher in development of the city northward, what with Thanttonnithuruth and other isles too being developed in the long run, he added.
