THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The act of the CPM men who vandalised the temporary sheds being constructed by the Thiruvananthapuram Development Authority (TRIDA) on the Central Theatre Road, for rehabilitating the traders on the Power House Road, has opened a can of worms.
In a meeting held in December last year which was presided over by Transport Minister V S Sivakumar, it was CPM leader and Mayor K Chandrika who termed the idea of constructing sheds on Central Theatre Road as ‘practical.’ The minutes of the meeting in possession of Express shows that two representatives of pro-CPM organisations had attended the meeting.
Now, the CPM-sponsored violence in the name of the closure of the Central Theatre Road is backfiring.
Officials at Fort police station, where TRIDA authorities registered a complaint against the act, has confirmed to Express that a case had been registered against 50 CPM men, who could be identified by sight.
The incident took place on Wednesday evening, when around 50 persons destroyed the constructions, water tank, mixing unit etc.
“This is politics. They couldn’t do anything for the Thakaraparambu flyover during the five years when they were in power. They are irked by the new developments and are venting their anger on these works,” said a trader on Power House Road.
He added, “we had suggested that the constructions on the Central Theatre Road were not practical. The road usually gets waterlogged during the rainy season. Also, closure of the Central Theatre Road and the Power House Road would cause traffic congestion in the city. But it was Mayor Chandrika who stuck to the decision since she was against our proposal to construct sheds on the northern side of the Putharikandam Maidan. Now, her own partymen are vandalising the constructions.”
The traders also ask why the miscreants waited so long to act on a decision which was taken in December last year. When contacted, Mayor K Chandrika said she was unaware of the incident. “When a group of traders protested against the move to construct sheds on Central Theatre Road, I had asked Minister V S Sivakumar to form a consensus on the issue. I have no idea about the others raising protest,” she said.
TRIDA to Go Ahead
Meanwhile, TRIDA chief engineer Ajith Kumar has that said the Authority would continue with the project. “We have registered a complaint at the Fort Police Station. We have also sought police protection to carry out the work,” he said.
It was the TRIDA project of constructing a bus stand-cum-shopping complex at Attakulangara which finally removed the hurdles before the much-delayed Thakaraparambu flyover. The work, which had been stuck over the issue of rehabilitation of as many as 45 traders, got a go-ahead when TRIDA decided to rehabilitate the traders in the shopping complex planned at Attakulangara. The sheds on Central Theatre Road are meant for temporary rehabilitation.