Kalpetta: Protests against the lethargy of authorities in the completion of Chekkadi Bridge and approach roads across River Kabani are gathering momentum.
Activists say people could have used it as an alternate route to the National Highway 212 linking Kozhikode and Mysore, where the night traffic remains banned for the last nine years.
The bridge will link Bavali in Karnataka and Pulpally in Kerala which is easier than the existing alternate road through Mananthavady and Kutta.
The bridge once completed would significantly reduce the night travel hours to Mysore and Bangalore from Kozhikode, they say. The stone laying ceremony of it was held in 2012 and was scheduled to complete in 2014. The construction of approach roads on both sides is yet to complete.
“The Rs 5.5-crore Bavali -Palvelicham road project which is progressing at a snail’s pace also would cause a delay in the opening of the bridge,” K.N. Ramesh, a Pulpally resident, told DC.
However, Sulthan Bathery MLA I.C. Balakrishnan said the construction work of the approach roads was progressing.
“We would be able to open the bridge only if we complete the approach roads,” he told DC.
