Thammanam–Pullepady Road project moves at a snail’s pace despite govt. notifications

Land acquisition for the Thammanam-Pullepady Road project remains incomplete.
| Photo Credit: File Photo

The four-laning of the Thammanam–Pullepady Road and its extension to MG Road and the NH Bypass remains uncertain, despite a series of government notifications.

This is despite repeated appeals from traders and other stakeholders, who stress that the speedy execution of the 3.70-km project is crucial to revive MG Road’s commercial prospects. Many businesses there either shifted to the NH Bypass or shut shop due to dwindling sales during the construction of the Kochi metro viaduct.

The latest of these notifications, issued on Friday (April 11) by the Revenue (B) department, includes survey numbers of plots that had not been included in prior notifications. It will be followed by a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) study, a public hearing, and other procedures, it is learnt.

Past Chairman of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Deepak Aswani, who is also the Chairman of the Kerala Chapter of Retailers Association of India, expressed concern at the road project being a non-starter, over 30 years since innumerable people surrendered their land free of cost. “Peeved at the delay, the Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) had contributed ₹1 crore more than 15 years ago to construct a two-lane bridge at Karanakodam, in a bid to decongest the old narrow bridge and push the road widening forward. The KCCI had also raised the issue with then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, after which ₹25 crore was sanctioned to widen it. Still, land acquisition remains incomplete,” he said.

Mr. Aswani added that the proposed four-lane road is essential to decongest arterial routes that lead to the city from Edappally and Vyttila, as well as the narrow Goshree bridge, through which vehicles from Container Road enter Kochi.

Expressing dissatisfaction at the tardy pace of land acquisition despite one survey after the other, Ramesh Mathew, a landowner along the corridor, hoped that the necessary notifications would be published fast, so that the road’s widening and extension works could commence at the earliest. “Landowners and others have been waiting since the early 1990s to realise the crucial road project that would link the NH Bypass with MG Road. We are tired of hearing one deadline after the other and visits to government offices to update documents. Traders on MG Road must spearhead the demand for the road since they would substantially benefit from the direct road connectivity from NH Bypass,” he added.

Rajesh Nair, convenor of the MG Road Merchants’ Association, highlighted the worsening traffic snarls in the city. He urged the civic and government agencies to act in unison to realise the four-lane road, failing which Kochi would become notorious like Bengaluru for massive traffic holdups.

While stating that the road project was revived during recent years after a lull of over two decades, Mayor M. Anilkumar said that the ground-level work to acquire land would begin in less than three months.

Hoping that the road would finally take shape as envisioned over thirty years ago, T.J. Vinod, Ernakulam MLA, said that the government had cited a lack of funds as the primary cause of the prolonged delay.