ALUVA: The long-awaited reopening of the renovated Sree Sankara Bridge at Kalady was marred by unsavoury incidents.
Minor skirmishes erupted between the police and members of the BJP as the party had arranged a separate inauguration of the renovated bridge at 7 00 am, much ahead of the official inauguration that was scheduled at 9 00 am, by Public Works Minister V K Ebrahim Kunju. There were also allegations of unruly behaviour from the part of the party workers during the official inaugural function.“The party activists had organised a public inauguration of the bridge, even though vehicles were allowed to pass only after the arrival of the minister,” said Kalady SI Sameesh. He refuted allegations of the police unleashing lathi charge against the activists.
“When the Public Works Minister arrived, there was a minor scuffle between the police and the activists. However, the chaos died down quickly, and the situation was back to normal,” he said.Yuva Morcha leader Saleesh Chemmandoor claimed that the party organised the public inauguration as it had stayed with the public throughout.
“Why the inauguration should be delayed until 9 am, when all the works were completed the day before itself? Several commuters to the airport were waiting in anticipation of passing the bridge in early morning. We held a public inauguration and let a few motorists through the bridge, but there was no instance of unruly behaviour from our part when the minister arrived,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ebrahim Kunju said, “we had taken effective measures for the repair of the bridge. Even though there were several obstacles in our path, like rain and the frequent protests, we managed to complete the repair works on time. The public inauguration of the bridge by the BJP activists is extra-constitutional,” Ebrahim Kunju said.