Kerala: Leader of Oppostion urges state govt intervention over unscientific nature of bridge construction

Ernakulam (Kerala) [India], May 14 : Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan has written to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan seeking immediate intervention of the government in solving the unscientific nature of the construction of the bridge across Paravur River as part of National Highway 66.
The opposition leader had earlier written a letter to the Minister of the Union Surface Transport Department regarding the unscientific nature of the construction of the bridge.

"As part of the construction of National Highway 66 from Muthakunnam to Varapuzha in Paravur Constituency, the height of the bridge over the Paravur River will be short, causing disruption to the Muziris waterway as well as the movement of fishing boats." Leader of the Opposition wrote in the letter.
The letter further said that in order to solve this problem, a decision was taken in a meeting led by the Ernakulam District Collector to stop the construction and solve the technical problems by issuing a stop memo. But none of these decisions were implemented. A similar problem has occurred with regard to the height of Moothakunnam Bridge. Due to the lack of height of this bridge, the passage of boats is in crisis.
The opposition leader asked the Chief Minister to take immediate steps to increase the height of these two bridges.
"Apart from this, the unscientific construction work being done in the Paravur area as part of the construction of National Highway 66 has created a severe crisis for the people. As part of the construction of the highway, the water authority's pipes on both sides of the road have been cut, so the supply of drinking water has been interrupted. The problem of drinking water has also worsened due to the lack of replacement systems for cut pipes. A similar crisis exists in the case of power lines. Electricity supply has also been disrupted in many places as power lines cannot be laid across the road. Several service roads are still closed as part of the highway construction," VD Satheesan wrote in the letter.
He further wrote that the traffic is blocked at most places due to lack of connectivity from important rural roads to service roads. There is also concern that unscientific construction of culverts and canals will affect the natural flow of water. In these flood-prone areas, even one rainfall can have serious consequences.
To solve this serious crisis, even though the Ernakulam District Collector conducted a joint inspection with the representatives of the local self-governing bodies and found major problems and brought them to the attention of the National Highway Authority, no action was taken.
The opposition leader also asked the Chief Minister to discuss with the Highway Authority and find a permanent solution to these problems.