Thamannam road widening project hanging fire

KOCHI: The detailed town planning scheme for the Thamannam-Pullepady road widening project, which would have redrawn the development paradigm of Kochi, is hanging fire.

Though the civic authorities completed the groundwork for the project some three months ago, the government is yet to issue orders approving the project. The scheme is also awaiting the notification from the Chief Town Planner, civic authorities pointed out.

The scheme is aimed at creating a width of 22 metres along the approach roads to the Thamannam-Pullepady overbridge on a private-public-participation mode. As it was proposed to be implemented in PPP mode, the civic authorities hoped to obtain land for the project free of cost. Modern bus bays, parking lots and markets were also proposed in the scheme. There was also proposals for rehabilitating people who would lose their houses in the same area.

The civic authorities felt that if the scheme was notified on time, it would have created a trend in obtaining land for development projects in Kochi.

The non-availability of land was identified as the major bottleneck in the implementation of development projects in Kochi. Some of the ambitious projects suggested for Kochi had failed to take off due to the non-availability of land.