Ending a wait that lasted for over one-and-a-half decades, the authorities are finally set to begin works on the railway over bridge (RoB) near Caritas junction at Thellakom.
Addressing a review meeting held at the District Collectorate here the other day, Cooperation Minister V.N. Vasavan said works on the project were slated to begin by December end. The ROB, which connects the MC Road and Medical College Road, has faced many blockades over the years.
The project has been now awarded to the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society at a cost of ₹13.61 crore.
As part of expediting the works, the Minister directed the departments concerned to clear the trees in the construction sight, besides replacing the posts and pipes of the Electricity, Water Authority, and BSNL. The Minister also directed the project contractor to start the trial piling of the construction by the end of December and to secure the approval of IIT Madras for the construction work.
Thomas Chazhikadan, MP, was present on the occasion.
The locals have been demanding for an over bridge here since 2005 and the construction of the bridge was included in the priority list of the State government in 2007. The work on the proposed bridge was sanctioned in the Railway Budget 2010-11 though the estimated cost for the project had to be revised several times with the delay in land acquisition.
The Railways had allocated ₹40 lakh in its 2010 budget for the project and about a year later, the State government also sanctioned ₹1.10 crore for the purpose of land acquisition.
Though the Railways department floated a tender in 2016 for establishing the RoB at a cost of 317.76 lakh, it failed to take off due to a delay in acquiring land. While the revenue department could take over about 90 cents of land from 19 persons by 2015, the acquisition of the remaining 32 cents of land was stalled following disputes among the land owners.
Though the issue was settled through different rounds of negotiations, the project faced further delays owing to a lack of response to the project tenders floated.
