A meeting of representatives of political parties and residents associations held at Thripunithura demanded that the State government allot funds to construct a 22-metre-wide road beneath the upcoming SN Junction-Thripunithura viaduct of the Kochi metro. A resolution too was passed in this regard.
The demand gains significance as the bus stand proposed near the Thripunithura railway station and the upcoming Kochi metro terminal station in the vicinity are expected to usher in large-scale development of the region. Thus, Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) should be given the task of constructing a 22-metre-wide road beneath the upcoming metro viaduct, the meeting chaired by Thripunithura Municipal Chairperson Rema Santosh said.
The Thripunithura Rajanagari Union of Residents Associations (TRURA) had earlier petitioned the Chief Minister, demanding a four-lane (22-metre-wide) road beneath the upcoming metro corridor.
Office-bearers of the residents body said the ₹438-crore metro extension envisaged only land acquisition for a 16-metre-wide ‘right of way’ beneath the metro viaduct, for what KMRL said was it being the first greenfield project under phase 1 of the Kochi metro.
According to the original plan, the municipality was to provide land to construct a road beneath the viaduct, since it would also provide connectivity to the proposed bus terminal. The municipality later withdrew from the project, citing inadequate funds and told KMRL to acquire land on its own.
Bodies led by TRURA had further demanded extension of the road beneath the metro viaduct to Tripunithura-Karingachira Road to decongest Thripunithura town. Yet another proposal awaiting the government’s sanction is widening the narrow overbridge near SN Junction by constructing a parallel two-lane bridge.
Thripunithura Municipal Vice Chairman K.K. Pradeep Kumar was present at the meeting.
