Govt. nod to reconstruct two decrepit bridges on NH.

Motorists who longed to get a permanent solution to the bumpy rides on the two old brides on the busy Kannur-Kozhikode National Highway now have a very good news. The State government has decided to allocate around Rs.70 lakh during this fiscal for the bridges’ reconstruction.

The Korappuzha and Moorad bridges, which were constructed around 70 years ago and now in a poor state, will be reconstructed as per the proposals submitted by the National Highway division of the Public Works Department (PWD) to the State government.

For the Korappuzha Bridge, a total fund of Rs.20 crore will be utilised. The PWD hopes that the project can be completed on time as no land acquisition is required and traffic can be easily diverted though other convenient roads during the construction phase.

The project, which was pending with the previous government, got the approval after Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran and Koyilandy MLA K. Dasan intervened in the issue.

“As the final project proposal is ready with all required clearance, the PWD can straightaway move to the construction stage. They can float tenders and complete the project on time,” says Mr. Dasan, who had taken up the issue several times with the State government for approval.

According to him, the State government had also lessened several technicalities involved in the project to complete it at the earliest and improve the vehicular movement on the busy route.

For the Moorad Bridge, the State government will invest around Rs.50 crore. Though the proposal has been under the consideration of the government for many years, the delay in earmarking the required fund was playing spoilsport. Using the fresh allocation, the PWD would be able to complete the project in two years.

Both the bridges have been in a poor state with broken surfaces, potholes and narrowed space. Many a time, the narrow space had interrupted the movement of heavy vehicles including buses and goods carriers. As a temporary security arrangement, the police had introduced signal lights on either side of the bridges to prevent the simultaneous entry of heavy vehicles.


THE HINDU