THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Barely two months after the Varkala floating bridge accident, the glass bridge ready to be opened at Akkulam Tourist Village has developed cracks, raising serious concern over the quality and safety standards of the adventure tourism infrastructure in the state.
The inauguration of the glass bridge — slated for March — was postponed following the floating bridge accident on March 9. Fifteen people fell into the sea after the 100-metre-long floating bridge collapsed due to rough waves.
Now, cracks have appeared on the 52-metre glass bridge at Akkulam, which is touted by the tourism department as a key adventure infrastructure. The bridge is constructed at a height of 75ft.
The adventure tourism activities at the Akkulam Tourist Village are jointly implemented by Vattiyoorkavu Youth Brigade Entrepreneurs Cooperative Society (VYBeCOS) and the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC).
VYBeCOS alleged that the cracks in the glass bridge occurred due to suspected vandalism, and it has lodged a complaint with the Sreekaryam police.
Crack on glass bridge: Call for probe to find out real cause of damage
Following the incident, the agencies and departments involved in the project are scrambling for answers and indirectly blaming each another.
Officials of VYBeCOS claimed that the glass bridge is intact and not broken as claimed by reports. “The glass panels used for the construction of the bridge are of the highest quality and they meet the global standards,” said Ratheesh C S, president of VYBECoS. “We found some scratches in a portion of one of the glass panels of the bridge due to a suspected act of vandalism,” he said.
However, the officials in charge of the Village have ruled out the possibility of vandalism as “it is a highly secured zone. It’s impossible for somebody to sneak in and cause destruction,” said an official at the Akkulam Tourist Village.
According to VYBECoS, the construction of the glass bridge started only after getting approval from the panel of engineers from the Public Works Department (PWD), constituted by the DTPC. “The project’s plan was vetted and approved by qualified structural engineers from the College of Engineering Trivandrum (CET). The entire construction was done under the monitoring of the Kerala Adventure Tourism Promotion Society,” said Ratheesh.
Former tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran said the matter should be thoroughly investigated. “An investigation should be conducted to find out the real cause of the damage. Also, it is high time we strengthened the Kerala Adventure Tourism Promotion Society. There should be stringent monitoring from the part of an expert panel under the society on all the adventure infrastructures. Safety and security of the visitors should be given utmost priority,” Kadakampally said.
“The effort to set up the Adventure Tourism Academy is also getting delayed inordinately. If we look at adventure tourism as a key product, the department should execute the academy project and strengthen KAPTS,” he added. Meanwhile, Sreekaryam police said they are looking into the complaint.
Recently, the glass bridge got the safety clearance from NIT, Kozhikode. According to tourism authorities, the final report from NIT is awaited.
