'Fraud On People': Kerala High Court Pulls Up State For Abandoning Pizhala-Kadamakudy Bridge, Seeks Clarity On Its Status

The Kerala High Court recently pulled up the state government, questioning it about the status of construction of the Pizhala-Kadamakudy Bridge for which administrative sanction was received as early as in October 2017.The Division Bench comprising Dr. Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Jobin Sebastian, while considering a public interest litigation preferred by the residents of Valiya Kadamakudy Island, sought clarity from the government as to whether financial sanction has been granted for the project and if not, by when it would be granted.It noted that while Chathanad and Kadamakkudy and, Pizhala and Moolampilly are now connected, the construction of the bridge connecting the middle portion, Pizhala to Kadamkudy seems to have been abandoned.“Yesterday, we were quite shocked and surprised to be told that nothing is happening in the middle segment. What is this? You are bickering about administrative sanction, technical sanction. What is this? It's a fraud on the people…We want to know what is the stage. Technical sanction is already obtained, administrative sanction also has been obtained. Financial sanction? Getting anything in this State, much less the country, is a nightmare. Let us start by focusing on the work to be done,” the Court orally remarked.When the matter had come up for consideration on Wednesday (November 19), the Court asked the government pleader to get specific instructions as to status of the construction, which is paramount to the residents of the 14 Kadamakkudy Islands, located near the Kochi metro.“You started from both ends. Chathanad and Moolampilly. You completed construction of the Moolampilly-Pizhala Bridge. You constructed with the original plan in mind...Idea was good. Because you are connecting all these islands…and traffic will also be eased. In that process, islanders will also get access to the main road. This is something that have been clamoring for many years. They use boat now. During the last floods, it was very apparent that they were not connected. We are talking about islands couple of kilometres from Kochi metro. During floods, they did not have access to groceries. All know it. When you are implementing it, abandoning it halfway, what criminal waste of money. If you are thinking of not connecting Pizhala with Kadamakkudy now, we would treat it as abandoned,” the Court had orally criticized.Next day, the Court again quizzed the government regarding the construction of the bridge connecting the middle portion between Chathanad and Moolampilly:“Instead of having one complete stretch to which the MoEF did not grant the permission, you decided to have it as four different…the central idea of connecting it from Moolampilly to Chathanad still exists? So, you can't have something stopping midway. That stretch is absolutely paramount. Secondly, the fact that it was paramount and that it was necessary, is also evident from Moolampilly Pizhala bridge. The size of the Moolampilly Pizhala bridge as it stands today. That obviously cannot be service only the residents of Pizhala to come to Moolampilly. It is not only for the residents there because there is nobody there. Pizhala is a very small place. So, the bridge was meant to be a connecting to the right of Chathanad. The connectivity from Pizhala to Valiyakadamakkudy is absolutely essential. Why is that taking so much time is what we are asking. What kind of game is the government playing here?” The Court suo motu impleaded the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) and the Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB), which respectively are the bodies stated to be funding and executing the project.“When you grant a certain time, for anybody to do something, the person acting will act in such a manner so as to fill the time granted,” orally remarked the Court disapproving the pace at which the project was going on and referring to Parkinson's law. The Bench then directed the State to inform it regarding the timelines required to complete the construction of the Pizhala-Kadamakady bridge and posted the case on Wednesday (November 26).The petition is moved by Advocates Kodoth Sreedharan, Ajeesh S. Brite, Francis Assis and Chackochen Vithayathil.Case No: WP (C) No. 30650/2024Case Title: Alex Manavalan and Ors. v. GIDA and Ors.Click to Read/Download Interim Order

'Fraud On People': Kerala High Court Pulls Up State For Abandoning Pizhala-Kadamakudy Bridge, Seeks Clarity On Its Status

K. Salma Jennath

Tags