KOTTAYAM:As part of doubling the Piravom-Kottayam-Chengannur railway line, the Southern Railway has commenced construction of the railway over bridge (RoB) at Nagampadam here.
The Southern Railway has also directed the contractors to speed up all proceedings connected with it, reports said on Monday.
Nagampadam RoB is also part of the second phase upgradation of MC Road, between Chengannur and Ettumanoor, undertaken by Kerala State Road Transport Project (KSTP).
The estimated cost of the RoB works out to Rs 27.52 crore, of which Rs 17.81 crore is to be borne by KSTP. According to reports, the latter has already handed over the amount to the Southern Railway.
The new railway over bridge is being constructed alongside the old, outdated one, so with the completion of the new one, old bridge can be removed.
The Chennai-based company, which has taken the contract, has already started putting columns. They said the expected time of completion would be one year.
The new railway over bridge has been designed to have 13 metre width, and footpaths on either side of 1.5 m each.
The 40-year-old, narrow bridge here has been a major reason for the traffic blocks along MC Road, and the renovation of it had been a long-pending demand of the residents public here.
A team from the Ministry of Railways along with Southern Railways general manager Rakesh Misra had visited the site in August 2014 in connection with the RoB and had reportedly directed lower officials to pace up the work, the reports said.However, the Kerala State Road Transport Project officials said they had asked the Railways to increase the width of the railway over bridge so as to match the four lane road they had conceptualised.INTUC had also demanded for increasing the width on par with KSTP specifications.
But as the work has already been started and the estimate sanctioned, any changes on it would be most unlikely, the reports said.