KOCHI: The relentless roar of a busy National Highway 544 is a constant companion of the residents of a small house in Chirangara, on the Thrissur-Edappally section.
For Thomas Kudiyappadan and his wife Thressiama, the cacophony of development has a ring of horror to it. Having entered the “sunset years” of their lives, the couple have seen their tranquil existence abruptly shattered, not by age, but by the construction of an underpass and its allied structures.
Their house, at the foot of the highway, was once a quiet and cosy residence. Then came the underpass. Almost overnight, they found themselves engulfed by mounds of earth and the terrifying realisation struck: they were trapped. Their home had been completely cut off from the outside world.
Nine-month ordeal
For a painful nine months, the couple ran from pillar to post for access to the underpass. All this while, they literally used ropes to climb the steep face of earth to reach the road stretch. Finally, the contractor, PST Engineering Constructions, offered a grudging solution: a narrow, steep access path leading up to the road.
It was a makeshift construction of compacted earth and a hasty pour of raw concrete, resulting in a flight of steps so daunting that for the aged couple has become a precarious climb just to leave their home.
“We live alone after we married off our daughter. It’s very difficult to negotiate the steep staircase. But this we manage somehow...,” 68-year old Thomas sighs. The difficult climb pales in comparison to the dread that befalls them when rain clouds gather in the horizon.
Fear of flooding
Thomas points rather nervously to the small drainage canal — the area’s lifeline against waterlogging -- that flows past their house.
“The contractor dumped concrete waste, generated when the old structure was demolished for highway expansion, in the drain. Our repeated pleas fell on deaf ears. Moreover, the rainwater outlet of the
highway drains into our premise. The arrangement is very shoddy,” rues Thressiama, 62.
With the drain choked by concrete debris, a heavy rain is all it would take for the canal to swell and break its banks.
For Thomas, the memory is still vivid. “Ours was one of the houses that was completely inundated in the 2018 floods. Now, we live in fear of waterlogging all year round.”
While Guruvayoor Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (GIPL) is the concessionaire responsible for maintenance of the Mannuthy-Edappally stretch, the underpass and allied works are carried out by PST Engineering, which is engaged in construction at five locations: Chirangara, Koratty, Muringoor, Perambra, and Amballur, as part of eliminating “black spots” along the route.
“There are a couple more houses on the stretch with no proper road access. What will all the people living in them do in an emergency situation? National highways have very specific access regulations. This is a classic case of a contracting firm failing to meet mandatory Indian Road Congress (IRC) standards and giving scant regard to safety,” said Denny Jose Veliath, a local resident and state vice president of the BJP Minority Morcha.