Kerala State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) Chairman Antony Dominic on Tuesday directed the officials to take necessary precautions to avert a possible disaster due to the movement of heavy vehicles through the temporary bridge at Vallakkadavu.
He was considering a complaint related to the construction of a bridge at Vallakkadavu. Though heavy vehicles are banned on the temporary bridge built across the Parvathy Puthanar to facilitate the construction of the new bridge, they continue to ply through the structure built for pedestrians and essential vehicles.
It is the responsibility of the officers to avert a disaster, the commission noted. The commission also conveyed to the Public Works department (PWD) Executive Engineer that heavy trucks continued to ignore the warning boards set up at Vallakkadavu against the movement of heavy vehicles through the bridge. Movement of such vehicles could lead to the collapse of the temporary bridge. The commission also sent a letter to the District Collector and the Police and Transport departments seeking immediate intervention to prevent violation of law.
The commission also directed to deploy traffic police personnel, if need be, near the bridge round the clock to prevent the entry of heavy vehicles and asked the District Transport (Enforcement) Officer and South Traffic Assistant Commissioner to strictly follow the instructions by the District Collector.
The order was issued based on a complaint filed by human rights activist Ragam Rahim.
