Kochi: Greater Cochin Development Watch (GCDW), an advocacy group campaigning for the balanced development of Kochi, plans to submit detailed project proposal for the development of Ring Road linking Marine Drive to Varapuzha and expansion of Chittoor-Cheranelloor Road.
Speaking to this newspaper, Felix Pulludan, president of GCDW, said that the construction of ring road linking Marine Drive to the NH-17 in Varapuzha has become essential for the growing traffic congestion in the Chittoor-Cheranelloor Road.
The Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA), which has mooted the idea of ring road, has been keeping silence about the project for the past two years. “The resources crunch might have forced
GCDA to place the project on the backburner. But we plan to resurrect the venture in view of Finance Minister Thomas Isaac setting up Kerala
Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) for the rapid development of infrastructure projects in the state”, Pulludan said. This is a good opportunity for reviving projects like the ring road venture, he said.
“We are planning to hold a series of discussions with various stakeholders in the region before preparing a concept note to be submitted to the authorities concerned”, he said.
The GCDW is also taking steps to expand the Chittoor-Cheranelloor road, one of the busiest stretches in the outskirts of the Kochi city, Pulludan said. “We are planning to approach the people residing in the area to request them give up some portion of the land to expand the width of the road another one metre so that the whole stretch could be developed into a two-lane road. We will initiate a discussion in this regard soon”, he added.
