News Detail

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">The Corporation of Kochi submitted before the Kerala High Court that considering high cost of constructing a Railway Over Bridge at Pachalam, it alone could not bear the expenses for the project. Financial assistance by the centre, the state government or any other agency would be essential for the same, a statement filed by the Corporation said.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">The Corporation also submitted that due to the differences of opinion, regarding the minimum required width of the ROB and service roads, no final decision could be taken by the Corporation.&nbsp;</span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">It pointed out that the corporation&rsquo;s earlier move to acquire land was prevented by political parties, social and religious organisations and institutions. There was even physical obstruction by the public.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">The statement was filed by Anuja, additional secretary of Corporation of Cochin. The Corporation filed the statement on a petition by advocates of Kerala High Court seeking a directive to the authorities to take steps to construct a ROB.&nbsp;</span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">The petitioners submitted that the political parties heading the Corporation, be it Left Democratic Front or the United Democratic Front, have failed, neglected or proved to be incompetent in bringing out an essential project which has been pending for the past 40 years.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">The state government and the Kochi Corporation had been ignoring the demand due to pressure exerted by some vested interests, the petition alleged. Corporation submitted that it was taking earnest steps to implement the project with the financial help of the central and state governments. Different proposals were discussed in a meting chaired by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, but the decision regarding the width of the ROB has not been taken.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">According to the Corporation, the proposed will connect the western part of Kochi city to NH-47 via Mamangalam without touching the busy and congested areas of the city. The bridge is an absolute necessity for the development of the city and also to ease traffic congestion in the central areas of the Corporation. The central sanctioning and monitoring committee of JNNURM had agreed to sanction a sum of INR 44.82 crore for the project. The amount would cover only the estimated cost of construction of the ROB and not the additional requirement for land acquisition.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">The construction of ROB and service roads is permissible under JNNURM program only with a width of 30 meters (22 meters for elevated ROB and 4 meters for service roads on either side). Based on the scheme, the extent of the land to be acquired for the purpose of ROB will come to around 9 acres. However the acquisition is to be undertaken in a very thickly populated residential area with a large number of religious and other institutions. The statement said that a KITCO study had proposed a 2 lane ROB, instead of original 4 lane with total width of 18.5 meters. However due to the differences of opinion it could not be finalised.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">Source-On Request</span></span></span></p>