Eight new bridges opened for public

KOCHI: Commuters along the Vypeen-Munambam State Highway are a relieved lot as eight new bridges constructed parallel to old and narrow ones are now open to traffic. With this, the first phase of the `27-crore reconstruction project of Public Works Department (PWD) has been completed.Since the old bridges at Aniyal, Punchayilthod, Valiyathanparambu, Vadayilthod, Ayyampilly, Pazhangad, Karuthala, and Kuzhuppilly were extremely narrow, traffic blocks had been a perennial affair on the route. “The traffic has been re-routed via the new bridges. As the first phase of the project is now complete, PWD procured the permission of Goshree Islands Development Authority (GIDA) to start the second phase which consists of the demolition and reconstruction of the old bridges. With the reconstruction of the old bridges, the traffic along the route can be converted into two-lane,” said E P Benny, Assistant Executive Engineer (Bridges Sub Division), PWD.Meanwhile, implementation of the second phase is facing major hurdles due to the lack of coordination between the various departments involved. “The demolition of the bridges will require the removal of water pipelines and electric posts located near them. Even after repeated requests, the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) and the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) have not initiated any necessary actions. Moreover, there is still some land to be acquired for the work on a few of the bridges. All this had led to a delay in the implementation of the first phase. If the same situation continues, the second phase will suffer as well,” said a top official with the PWD. However, officials with KWA maintained that they had removed the pipelines as per the PWD’s request.‘Express’ had earlier reported that the reconstruction work on these bridges were lagging behind, despite strict orders from District Collector P I Sheik Pareeth to finish the first phase before early February.