KOCHI: The travel woes of denizens at Kalamassery are expected to end soon as the Public Works Department (PWD) has decided to widen and rebuild the road and construct a new railway overbridge to ensure smooth flow of traffic.Works Minister G Sudhakaran, who held a meeting with Kalamassery MLA V K Ibrahim Kunju, District Collector Mohammed Y Safirulla, Kalamassery municipal chairperson Jessy Peter and PWD officers at the PWD Guest House here told Express HMT Junction will be beautified providing better facilities to the commuters.
“As many as 10 shops have been functioning on the stretch for the past 50 years. Though the shop owners had approached the court, it gave us permission to evict them and consider proper rehabilitation.
“The meeting entrusted the PWD executive engineer with the job of identifying the land for rehabilitation of the traders. We need 30 metres of land to rehabilitate the shopkeepers and HMT has adequate land. The executive engineer and the municipal secretary will hold talks with the HMT authorities in this regard. We will also check the availability of PWD land for rehabilitation. The executive engineer has been directed to file a report within two months,” the minister said.
Sudhakaran said a two-lane railway overbridge will be constructed at HMT Junction parallel to the existing flyover to facilitate free flow of traffic. This will ensure four-lane traffic on the stretch. Though the government had given tender for the beautification of HMT Junction earlier, the contractor did not complete the work. The payment was not made since the contractor abandoned the work and the fund is available with the government. This amount will be used for beautification of HMT Junction, the minister said.
“Kalamassery municipal chairperson and works standing committee chairman had visited me the other day and submitted a memorandum urging to develop the HMT Junction road. CPM district secretary and former MP P Rajeev and Ernakulam District Sports Council president V A Zakir Hussain had also requested to initiate steps for the development of the road,” said Sudhakaran.
The minister also reviewed the renovation work at the Ernakulam Government Medical College, which was recently taken over by the state government. As many as 70 construction works are being carried out at an expense of `36 crore at the medical college. “Instructions have been issued to complete the electrification work within two months and the civil work within six months,” he said.
Attempt to snatch credit: Action council
HMT Junction Development Action Council chairman M Nandakumar said it was the sustained efforts by the council that prompted the government to take up the development works of HMT Junction Road. “We had submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on February 27, 2017, and the government had sought the opinion of the Kalamassery municipality in this regard. Now after the decision was taken on road development, some people are trying to snatch the credit. Though the minister convened a meeting to discuss the work, we were not invited,” he said.