Thirteen years ago, Koyakeel Raghavan, a resident of Kunnaru in Kannur district, proposed a plan to the government to construct a bridge at the Moolakeel Kadavu, connecting Madayi and Payyanur panchayats situated in the Kalliassery and Payyanur constituencies.
However, despite all the clearances from the government and departments concerned, the construction of the bridge still remains a distant dream for 73-year-old Raghavan, who has been taking up the matter with the governments at regular intervals.
"I hope to see the bridge completed during my lifetime. The bridge will help to connect people of both the panchayats who are now forced to travel several kilometres additionally," he said. The project is in the last phase of approval and waiting for financial clearance from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board, he said.
Mr. Raghavan, who is a social activist, said that the project was taken up after he submitted a petition in 2008 to then Chief minister K. Achuthanandan, highlighting the importance of constructing the bridge.
Based on his petition, an order was passed to carry out the survey, and subsequently, the engineer concerned submitted an estimate of ₹5.10 crore, which was approved by the State Cabinet. It was included in the 2009 budget and the fund was allocated for the project.
Bridge design
After the preliminary survey, a design of the bridge, with a length of 126 metres and width of 11.5 metres and estimated to cost ₹14.20 crore, was submitted to the government in 2012. However, the design was opposed by the Inland Waterways Authority of India, which demanded review of the design. It suggested that the bridge should have a length of 410 metres with 10-metre-high pillars spaced 40 metres apart. This delayed the work.
In 2012, the local people gave their consent to use their land for the construction of the bridge, said Mr. Raghavan.
No further progress was made during the UDF regime from 2011 to 2016. But when the LDF government came to power in 2016, the Cabinet allocated ₹25 crore in the budget. The administrative sanction was also issued by the KIIFB.
In 2017, the Inland Waterways Authority relaxed its earlier stipulations and reduced the length to 263 metres and the height to 6 metres. Following this, the engineers of the PWD submitted a detailed project report with an estimate of ₹23.52 crore. This included ₹1 crore for the acquisition of land in Moolakeel in Kalliassery constituency.
When contacted, M. Vijin, Kalliassery MLA, said that the project was under active consideration and that the issue had been taken up with the KIIFB for its approval.
He said that issue had also been brought to the attention of the Minister for PWD during a recent meeting. Efforts would be made to expedite the project, he said.