Kozhikode: Public Works Minister G. Sudhakaran opened the Elanthukadavu bridge, constructed across Iruvanhi river in Pulloorampara, on Saturday. The bridge offers better road connectivity between Thiruvambadi and Kodenchery panchayats.
The ₹7.2-crore, 89-metre-long bridge will form part of the proposed hill highway project. Soon after the opening of the bridge, the KSRTC launched service on the Thiruvambadi-Adivaram route. The bridge had been a long-pending demand of local residents. The foundation stone for the ₹5-crore bridge project at Pallippadi was also laid on Saturday.
Officials of the Thiruvambadi panchayat said farmers in the area had been depending on a temporary bund to cross the river in the absence of a bridge. The project under the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society was completed in two years, they added.
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Incidentally, some senior UDF leaders did not attend the inaugural function, alleging that they were not formally invited. Block panchayat member Eliyamma George accused the LDF of showing disrespect to people’s representatives who had toiled for realising the project.
“Even former MLA C. Moyinkutty was not informed. It was during his term the project was formally approved by the government and construction began,” said Ms. George. She added that the UDF-led grama panchayat had held several rounds of talks with local landowners to win their consent for the construction of an approach road to the bridge.