The demand is gaining ground in Chellanam that the narrow and dilapidated Gonduparambu Muthukupuram overbridge be rebuilt, before constructing a bridge nearby at Thareparambu.
The construction of the Thareparambu bridge was recently halted following protests demanding that funds be allocated for Muthukupuram bridge which would help approximately 1,000 people every day.
The president of Chellanam 2020, Pavizham Biju, said that priority must be accorded to Muthukupuram bridge since the other bridge would benefit just four families and a tourism property which was coming up nearby. Sadly, substantial MLA funds were being used to build a 13-metre bridge which would help just a handful of people. The Ezhuppunna-Chellanam bridge was located hardly 100 metre away from here, he said.
The proposal for the bridge whose construction was halted following protests was kept under wraps even after it got technical and administrative sanction. The rebuilding of Muthukupuram bridge which was in unsafe condition, must be accorded priority, said T. A. Dalphine of the NGO Pashchima Kochi Theera Samrakshana Samiti.
