Petition seeking new bridge submitted

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Commuters passing through Vallakkadavu in the city can soon heave a sigh of relief. The High Court has accepted a petition seeking construction of a new bridge in a timely manner to replace the century-old Vallakkadavu bridge which poses a hazard to motorists.

A division bench of comprising of Chief Justice Antony Dominic and Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan has directed issuance of notice to the Chief Secretary, District Collector, Chief Engineers of Operations and Roads and Bridges wings of PWD, Land Revenue Commissioner and City Police Commissioner. The direction came in the wake of a Public Interest Litigation by activist Ragam Raheem.

The petitioner sought construction of a new bridge in a time-bound manner and requested the court to direct Revenue officials to identify land needed for it. The petitioner also sought invocation of relevant sections of the land acquisition act to acquire land in a speedy manner. Raheem also asked the High Court to fix a time frame for land acquisition.

Since the dilapidated structure was posing danger to commuters, traffic through the bridge should be regulated, the petitioner said. Plying of heavy vehicles should be stopped and a board should be put up warning commuters that the bridge is in danger, the petitioner said.

The proposal to construct a new bridge at Vallakkadavu has been hanging fire for a long time. After the PWD flagged the government about the dangerous condition of the bridge, work on constructing a new bridge began in 2011. Though a survey was conducted to acquire land for construction of a new bridge, it was stalled due to opposition from certain quarters. In 2016, the UDF government sanctioned Rs nine crore for construction of the bridge but the work is moving at a snail’s pace.