Almost eight years after the government allocated funds, the construction of the Kavalam-Thattassery bridge across the Pampa in Kuttanad is yet to begin.
Residents under the aegis of a people’s committee have decided to launch protests against the official apathy. A protest march will be taken out on Sunday. It will be followed by an 18-hour day-and-night protest on January 27 and 28.
In 2016, the State government allocated ₹30 crore for constructing the bridge and approach roads. The original plan was to acquire the land needed for the project through direct negotiated purchase. However, some landowners demanded a change in the alignment. As the alignment was fixed by the Inland Waterways Authority, officials rejected their demand. Later, the Revenue department ended the move to acquire land through negotiated purchase.
In November 2018, the department announced that the Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act would be invoked to acquire land and owners were given time till December 1, 2018, to hand over the consent letters. However, the authorities failed to take follow-up action until 2020.
1.85 acres acquired
Sources said that 1.85 acres of land in Kavalam and Kunnumma villages had been acquired for the project at ₹9.75 crore. However, the second phase of land acquisition has not been completed yet. Though owners have handed over consent letters, they are yet to receive the compensation.
Due to cost escalation, the estimate of the project has been revised to ₹73.59 crore. The government, however, has not yet given its nod for the revised estimate.
The bridge will connect the Alappuzha-Changanassery (AC) road and the Main Central (MC) road. It will help reduce the distance between Alappuzha and Kottayam by around 9 km along with opening the doors of development to the remote areas of Kuttanad. Once constructed, the bridge will have a length of 396.4 m and a width of 7.5 m.
