KOCHI: Hundreds of people arrive and depart from the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) every day. However, going to the airport is a tiresome task especially if you are taking the uneven Angamaly-Airport Road in Nayathode, Angamaly.
The 4 km-long stretch, from Nayathode to the airport, is filled with potholes. The condition of the road gets worse in the 800-metre stretch, from the Nayathode Junction on the Main Central Road till the St George Jacobite Syrian Church. “Travelling on the road is a nightmare, especially for two-wheelers,” said Alan Paul, a local resident. “The road is narrow and filled with potholes. Driving while avoiding potholes would result in clashing with vehicles coming from the opposite direction.”
The commonly used roads are the the official Airport Road from Nedumbassery, the Angamaly-Airport Road from Nayathode and the Kalady-Airport Road from Mattoor and Angamaly. While the official road is maintained by CIAL, the others are Public Works Department roads.
Responding to the bad condition of the Angamaly-Airport Road in Nayathode, Roji M John, MLA told Express, “A project worth Rs 1.6 crore has been approved. Now we need to call for tenders. This was delayed by the floods. Also, renovation and expansion of the road are in the plan.
The land has been acquired for this. There are KSEB and KWA lines in the acquired land. So letters have been sent and estimates are being prepared. For now, we’ll be doing patchwork on the road, but this is temporary.”
Roads not taken
For those travelling to and from north Kerala, the Kalady-Airport Road from Angamaly and the Angamaly-Airport Road from Nayathode are the easiest routes to the airport. “These routes save more than 30 minutes especially in the current traffic,” said a local resident. The distance of from Angamaly town to the airport via the Kalady-Airport Road is 4.7 km. The distance of the same via the Angamaly-Airport Road is 5.7 km. The distance from Angamaly town to the airport via the official Airport Road beginning at Nedumbassery is almost 7 km. “People in and around Angamaly rely on the route from Nayathode to reach the airport,” said the local resident.