THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Swaraj Hotel aka Chukkinte Chayakkada was hard to miss. Situated smack in the middle of Vattiyoorkavu junction, the wafting aroma of several fluffy, fresh, and flavourful delicacies was always a crowd puller. The insides of the tea shop bore a yesteryear charm, with food cooked in coconut oil served on plantain leaf strips.
It ran with high standards of hygiene, and proprietor Gopakumaran Nair made sure that every bit of the advice his father Chukku Velayudhan Nair passed on to him was followed to the T. And the tea shop continued to witness regular tete tete over a cup of hot tea and breakfast delicacies in the morning and warm snacks in the evening. And no one would pass by without packing the famous ‘Rasavada’ to take home. It never saw a slow day over the past eight decades.
However, the shop is now a memory for the old timers to recall. “Gopakumaran’s shop was taken over as part of the Vattiyoorkavu development project. My shop also comes in the project course, and I also shifted from the spot a few years ago. Sometimes, we hear that the project will take off, but it seems to be in fits and starts,” says K Jayadharan Nair, an entrepreneur who runs two business establishments in the area.
He, however, feels it’s all talk, and the project is just an eyewash. “I have no hope; we have been hearing this talk for the past 10 years,” he says. Regular commuters agree as they point to the bottleneck the junction turns into during peak hours.
But Thiruvananthapuram Development Authority (TRIDA) officials feel otherwise. A highly placed source in the authority told TNIE that the land acquisition process for rehabilitation of displaced is complete and works are in full swing for ‘meaningful rehabilitation’.
“The aim is to finish the construction work for rehabilitation by March 2025,” says the official.
The project to develop the Sasthamangalam-Vattiyoorkavu-Peroorkada road to address traffic congestion on the stretch aims to make a four-lane, 10.75-km long, 18.5-metre-wide road. To rehabilitate those who lost their businesses, the project plans to acquire three acres to build a shopping complex that can accommodate about 200 vendors.
The plan was long in the suggestion list of town developers considering the strategic location of the junction that links the suburban areas of the district. The project was mooted in 2016, with the Public Works Department, Local Self Government Department, Kerala Road Fund Board, and TRIDA as the main players, at an estimated cost of `341.79 crore.
“Land acquisition was probably one of the many hiccups in the process. When the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement (LARR) Act came about in 2013, we had to restructure many aspects of the compensatory proceedings, which were being calculated as per the 1894 Land Acquisition Act. Hence, the funding allotment was revised. Now, `86.45 crore has been set aside for land acquisition. All these did take a while,” explains the TRIDA official.
Such procedural delays cannot be ruled out when it comes to developmental works, says a senior official with the Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL). He does not want to revisit the gruelling acquisition process that was part of the 535-metre-long Sreekaryam flyover project, which has been in the pipeline since 2016.
“All the hurdles are now in the past. We are finally going to start work next month. The project can hence be called a successful one,” he informs.
The Cabinet recently approved Rs 71.38 crore for the flyover project, for which land has been acquired after allocating Rs 70 crore as compensation via the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).
The issues faced and the tough times in the past few years of the project implementation were grilling because “any development plans in Kerala is difficult,” the official claims, adding the project is the first step in Thiruvananthapuram’s Metro dreams.
“At first, it was part of the Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) and KMRL took over in 2022. The tender was called in 2023. The land
acquisition was mired in issues because of the change in norms which has made the procedure people-friendly. There are about 38 steps to be followed, including holding hearings, social impact assessments, surveys, post-survey hearings, etc.
All these take time. Then there are lawsuits from people who may be part of the ecosystem of the place for a long time. But in our case, all these are solved and the Sreekaryam flyover will be a reality in 18-20 months,” he says.
The Metro plan also includes the Ulloor and Pattom flyovers, but for that, the alignment and the curvatures of the region must be taken into consideration before the planning stage.
“Flyover construction is not the same as that of a normal road. In the case of Sreekaryam, the plan is for a 33-metre-wide stretch, including walkways, a cluster of four lanes, and 5.5-metre service roads on both sides,” the KMRL official adds.
For the land acquisition at Sreekaryam, 168 buildings were razed. Many of those compensated feel they could have been better compensated. Similar feelings were voiced by those at Vattiyoorkavu too.
“It was my ancestral land, and I deserved a better deal. I have a good mind to take the matter to court,” says Manikandan Pillai, who used to run a shop at Manchadimoodu, which lies on the project path.
According to the officials, hiccups such as these stop the smooth flow of any project to completion. But for Anilkumar Pandala, former Thiruvananthapuram Road Development Company Limited (TRDCL) managing director, what ails such development projects is neither compensation nor the funds but political interference and the red tape that gnaws at the roots of the system.
To prove this, the retired expert in road planning states several examples from development projects at East Fort, Medical College, to the one at Vellayambalam where there was a proposal in 2004 as part of TRDCL’s flagship Rs 225-crore plan to improve mobility solutions in the capital.
“The idea was to restructure the Ayyankali roundabout at Vellayambalam, which would have the statue of the social reformer untouched and stationed on a triangular island. The project envisaged to consider the increasing vehicular traffic that called for such a restructuring,” Anilkumar says.
But the proposal hit a roadblock with the Dalit groups worrying if the statue of Ayyankali would be removed or tampered with.
“This fear was misplaced. All that was required was an open talk between the groups and the government. But politics played out there, stalling the plan,” he says.
Anilkumar was in the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) advisory team that recommended five projects, including outer area corridor development under which plans were suggested at Vattiyoorkavu, Thirumala, and Medical College. Medical College hit a bureaucratic roadblock, and Thirumala’s fate is still unknown, he claims.
“Vattiyurkavu was finalised in 2016, and ought to have finished a long time ago,” he adds, stating the talk about such projects seeing light probably gets a boost during election times and then falls back to slumber once the poll heat is over.
“There are examples in Kerala itself of how such projects can change the face of the place. It is heartening to see how Tripunithura has changed after development works there. Vattiyurkavu too has the same character,” he claims, adding development should be without vested interests and lobbying.
“Stick to a concrete plan made after a proper study, and pace up with a time frame. Such a resolve, not mere grandiose ‘flyover’ plans, can make transit less cumbersome and city life smooth.”