THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:The PWD Minister G Sudhakaran on Tuesday told the Legislative Assembly the construction of the new bridge at Vallakkadavu in the city corporation limits will begin as soon as the land acquisition process is completed. Replying to a submission by V S Sivakumar MLA, the minister said the previous LDF government under V S Achuthanandan had decided to construct the new bridge at Vallakkadavu in July 2009.
The project worth Rs 5.37 crore had also received a technical sanction. But the contractor who won the bid ditched the project following an undue delay in land acquisition under the Land Acquisition Act.
G Sudhakaran said on August 29, 2014 a social impact assessment study about the construction of the bridge was conducted. He said the government will continue to take all steps to complete the land acquisition.
He asked Sivakumar to hold talks with the stakeholders to cross over the roadblocks in completing the land acquisition. He also offered the member to convene a review meeting soon.However, the minister told Sivakumar the government will not ask the Army to construct a Bailey bridge as an alternative facility since the military offers such support only in the event of the collapse of a major bridge.