Kochi: The nearly six years of struggle for a service road by Mulavukad residents to prevent getting isolated has materialised with the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) giving approval for the 2.6- km road between Bolghatty and Kattathukkadavu parallel to the Container Terminal Road (NH 966 A). “NHAI Headquarters has given approval for construction of the service road and we have initiated tender formalities. It will be floated in two to three days once the written communication reaches us. As of now, they have informed us over the phone,” a senior NHAI official told DC.
The move comes even as the Mulavukad Janakiya Vikasana Samithi was preparing to re-launch its agitation on the long-pending issue. “It’s great news for us and we have withdrawn the hunger strike plan. We were never against the Container Road development but our problem was that without a service road, we would get isolated area-wise so much so that we could not even take hospital emergency cases,” said Sahad M F, Convener of the Samiti. Though NHAI completed construction of the 17.2 km long road connecting Kalamassery and the International Container Transshipment Terminal in April 2015, Mulavukad residents strongly opposed the move to introduce toll demanding the agency construct a service road there first.
Later, it entrusted the Kerala State Construction Corporation Limited (KSCCL) with construction of the road in two phases at an estimated cost of Rs 23 crore based on a feasibility report prepared by Kitco. However, the residents continued their stir demanding that the service road be constructed with concrete culverts instead of pipe culverts and that the entire work be completed in a single phase. NHAI later gave in to the demand and informed the district collector about its willingness to construct the service road on its own by taking it over from KSCCL. In a meet held on July 10 last, it was decided that construction of the service road would begin as soon as the NHAI headquarters sanctioned the project estimate and the work to be completed within a maximum period of one year.
