KOCHI: When the work on the Ezhupunna-Kumbalangi bridge was completed in April 2008, it was expected that the journey from Ernakulam to Alappuzha would become faster and easier.However, the inauguration of the bridge is being delayed as the work on the approach road has not been completed.Three years after its completion, the bridge still remains closed for the public.The opening of the bridge would have reduced the distance between Ernakulam and Alappuzha by at least 7 km.“The work on the bridge was completed three years ago. However, the work on the approach road has been pending for years,” said Shinemon P, a local resident.“When we protested, the MLAs promised that the bridge would be inaugurated in November,” he said.But the work on the approach road that was inaugurated by former Minister M Vijayakumar in January, has not reached anywhere.The contractor, who had undertaken the work, said the work had been delayed owing to rains. “The south-east area of the approach road has been drenched in water owing to rains. We are planning to resume the work this week itself,” contractor Joseph said.The PWD officials said that the people on both sides of the bridge had objected to the work on the approach road. They approached the court stating that the approach road would block the path to their houses and shops. Owing to this the alignment of the bridge was changed during the construction.This in turn resulted in some families losing the passage to their houses.PWD overseer Anil said that the stay on various cases filed by the residents have been withdrawn. “The government has given compensation for the land and now they have withdrawn the cases,” he said. But local residents said that the stay orders issued by the court on the basis of pleas submitted by some shop-owners are yet to be vacated. Also, some residents are against the bridge which has become a nuisance for the village which has only narrow roads.It would probably be beneficial to Alappuzha but not definitely to Ernakulam, said S Duttan, a resident of Kumbalangi.Presently, the tug of war between the PWD and a prawn shed owner near the bridge has slowed down the work.“He has gone to court stating that the approach road would make it impossible for trucks to enter his shed. He should have told this to us earlier,” Anil said.“The real root of the problem lies in the fact that the land for the approach road was not acquired before the construction of the bridge, the way it was supposed to be done.The work on the bridge was hastily undertaken without proper planning since the elections were approaching and the political parties wanted to make mileage,” said a small-time shop-owner.The NABARD which had funded the work on the entire bridge withdrew its assistance when it realised that the conditions they put forward could not be met. “They made an agreement that they would do the work on the approach road if the area for the road was freely acquired.When the NABARD realised that the land could not be acquired for free, they withdrew from the project after constructing the bridge leaving the entire project halfway,” Anil said.
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