Thiruvananthapuram: Several people, including tourists, have complained on the sickening sight of waste dumped on both sides of the roads on their arrival at the airport. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who heard the complaints, asked PWD to explore options to beautify the Shanghumukham-Chackai stretch. If the new proposal gets approval, the 6km road from domestic
airport to
Chackai Junction and the nearby national highway will receive a facelift.
Based on the direction of PWD secretary G Kamalavardhana Rao, the Thiruvananthapuram Road Development Company Limited (TRDCL), concessionaire of City Roads Improvement Project, has submitted a proposal that includes suggestions such as to clear all encroachments, steps required to prevent dumping of waste and beautifying the stretch with flowering plants, trees and vertical garden.
District collector K Vasuki has convened a meeting of councillors and officials of PWD and TRDCL to discuss the proposal on Thursday evening.
Sources in PWD said that the rough estimate of the project is Rs 10 crore. “The encroachments in the stretch will be cleared. Flower beds will be arranged in specific areas called impact points in the stretch,” said an official in PWD.
Arteria project will be extended to the stretch with artists beautifying walls with paintings. “Compound walls of individual houses will be beautified using vertical gardens with their permission,” sources said.
To address the major menace of dumping of waste, the TRDCL has suggested setting up of three mini biogas plants for waste management in the stretch. “Staff will be appointed for collection, segregation and management of household waste in the area. Dumping of waste will be strictly controlled by setting up surveillance cameras. TRDCL will be given responsibility to monitor it,” sources said.
TRDCL and NHAI are learnt to have assigned their landscape architect to suggest the plants needed for vertical garden and roadside landscaping.
NHAI is also planning to construct vertical gardens with the support of companies such as Infosys, SFS builders and KIMS Hospital. The vertical garden of NHAI will come on the embankments and road sides.
The TRDCL has been asked to submit a detailed project report within a month. The work is expected to start after clearing encroachments from the area. The project will take 6-8 months to complete.
In order to provide a steady supply of water for irrigation, the project has also included suggestions to lay pipeline from sewage treatment plant at Muttathara to Chackai and thereby utilize the treated effluent which is currently being discharged to Parvathy Puthanar.