MUNAMBAM: The delay in widening two of the eight bridges on the Vypeen-Munambam highway has negated the utility of the rest of the widened bridges, according to the residents in this coastal town.
All the eight bridges that connect the 24 km-highway between Vypeen and Munambam had been narrow and struggled to fit even one vehicle.
Meanwhile, the roads were at least two-third wider than the bridges.
To prevent the regular traffic congestion up and down the bridges, the government rolled out a bridge-widening project aimed at aligning the breadth of the bridges with that of the rest of the highway.
As part of the project, six bridges were widened, but two bridges - the one near Puzhupally and another at Edavanakad - were left out due to delay in acquiring the land for the approach road.
“As a result, traffic snarl-ups near the bridges are a common occurrence on the highway and the travel between Vypin and Munambam is still annoyingly long,” said K K Velayudhan, a local resident and president of Munambam Trawl Net Boat-owners Association.
The government should do something to to expedite the widening of the remaining two bridges, he added.
The land acquisition for widening the remaining two bridges has been lingering for years now. Despite several appeals and requests to hasten the process, the residents here allege that the government refuse to pay heed to their request.
Munambam, which is surrounded by Periyar river on one side and Arabian sea or two other sides, had remained cut off from the mainland for several years. Its connectivity with Ernakulam was established through these bridges.
However, the bridges were built narrow and over the years struggled to sustain the inflow of vehicles from both the directions.