THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Putting an end to the long wait, the skywalk in front of St Mary's Higher Secondary School Pattom is to become a reality. With construction restarted, the skywalk is expected to be functional in one-and-a-half months. The skywalk will be beneficial to nearly 13, 000 children along with pedestrians. "Traffic congestion here is high during peak hours. Further, the vehicles of parents who drop and pick up students result in more congestion creating hindrance to cross the road.
Usually the school securities, teachers and PTA members help students cross the road along with the traffic police. With the arrival of the skywalk, crossing the road would be easier and will help reduce manpower," said Fr John CC, principal of St Mary's HSS. The skywalk project is implemented by City Corporation and Sun Infrastructure Private Limited.
The project that began in September was delayed because the Public Works Department(PWD) denied to go ahead with the project as the NOC for the construction was sought from the department. Also, the technical issues related to the Kerala State Electricity Board(KSEB) further delayed the process.
Construction materials remained scattered in front of the school premises creating an obstruction to pedestrians since the past few months. Passengers were unable to use the bus shelter opposite the school as the materials created a block.
According to Naseeb S, director of Sun Infrastructure Private Limited, owing to some legal issues, the company had to make changes in the project design to ensure the construction of skywalk pillars on NH property. It took more time to get the permission granted from NH authorities. "We will re-begin works as soon as we receive permission from the NH and PWD. It will take almost one-and-a-half months to finish as we can do construction work solely during the night by blocking traffic," said Naseeb.