End in sight for an ordeal

KOCHI: Taking the plight of commuters into consideration, Public Works Minister G Sudhakaran has ordered officials to complete the work of the Nettoor-Kundannoor parallel bridge on a war-footing basis.

This comes a week after 'Kochi Express' reported the struggles of residents and commuters who are battling dust menace owing to the incomplete work of the road.​

In addition, M Swaraj MLA has also convened a meeting of stakeholders to speed-up the works, which included re-laying of the pipelines on the stretch initiated under the JNNURM scheme. The work of the parallel bridge was at a standstill following the hassles in re-routing of the pipelines. As per the revised estimate, Kerala Water Authority (KWA) will receive Rs 71 lakh to re-route the water pipelines on the Kundannoor side. The tender for the work will be opened on March 19 following which officials plan to kickstart the work by the month-end. 

Once the work is completed, the approach road will also be tarred.  "There were fears that the pipelines would not be able to handle the heavy traffic. Now, that KWA has decided to re-route the pipeline, PWD officials will tar the approach road in Kundannoor side without removing the existing pipes," said M Swaraj   "A few loads of gravel were off-loaded at the Kundannoor side a few days ago. We are expecting timely action from officials,"  Suneela Siby, Maradu municipal chairperson.

Brothers Nettoor Club, under the initiative of the District Collector,  has started watering the stretch at peak hours. "We were faced with fund crunch to water the road. Now, with the intervention of the District Collector, this is being done on a daily basis," said Sainudheen, president, Brothers Nettoor Club.