KOCHI: Pachalam Railway Overbridge (RoB), which was being mooted as a solution to the travel woes of Kochi city especially the residents of Kacherippady and Vaduthala areas who were forced to wait for hours at the Pachalam railway cross for the past three decades, still remains a dream.
The construction of the bridge that began on March 4,2014, has come to a standstill. Nearly two months have passed since the work got stalled .
The state government had entrusted the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), the agency with cent per cent track record in completing the projects within the deadline, with the implementation of the project. The DMRC officials, however, said that construction work is being obstructed by a small group of people.
“A group of people are disrupting the work. We are not against any protestors. But what Jankeeya Samara Samithi is trying to do is to obstruct the work without even heeding to the assurances given by officials concerned,” alleged Kochi Mayor Tony Chammany. He said that a group of residents, who had formed Pachalam ROB Action council, had already given their support to the project. But, now, a small group of people are disrupting the work to protect their vested interests, alleged the Mayor.Meanwhile, according to a statement issued by the Janakeeya Samara Samithi the other day, they have decided to intensify the strike to get the proposal implemented as per the initial plan. Initially, a wider bridge was planned at the area, but later on the authorities decided to construct a bridge with an overall width of 10 metres. This is not acceptable to a section of residents, Janakeeya Samara Samithi members said.Meanwhile, the officials concerned have clarified that the design was changed to reduce land acquisition delays and speedy implementation of the project.
“In the earlier proposal, it was planned to construct the ROB with rotary arrangements and ramp in three directions. The former proposal necessitated acquisition of large area of land and structures and it would have taken a considerable amount of time and incurred huge cost. This was the reason why the ROB, which was sanctioned more than 13 years back, didn’t get implemented. Railway will share the cost of only a two-lane ROB, and balance cost is to be borne by Government,” said the officials concerned.
The present design offers enough scope for widening of the bridge in the future with minimal land acquisition. The bridge will have an overall width of 10 m with a road width of 7.5 metre. This would ensure a two-lane traffic. There will be a footpath on the bridge, which will have a total length of 346.5 metre. The bridge starts at about 3 m north of Pachalam junction, crosses the railway track, turns South and will land 3 metre ahead of the main entrance of Kattungal Bhagawathi Temple.
“The RoB can be widened on the eastern side with a bridge with two lane road and foot path in the future and additional land is required only on the eastern side. No land acquisition is required in future for widening the bridge on the western side. This is an added advantage of the present design,” added the officials.
The officials also assured that the working of the temple will not get affected in any manner out of the new design.
‘Provide safe work environment’
The DMRC officials clarified that the work will be resumed only if the authorities can assure a safe environment for its workers. “The compensation should be paid to those who had surrendered their land. We have already completed the piling work on Vaduthala side. But we faced opposition from a group of people when work began on the Kacherippady side. The violent protest has turned the whole situation into a law and order problem. Hence, we will not be able to commence the work if our workers are not safe,” added the officials.
