Project to extend M.G. Road-Pullepady-Thammanam-NH Bypass corridor up to Seaport-Airport Road remains on paper

Efforts to extend M.G. Road-Pullepady-Thammanam-NH Bypass corridor to Seaport-Airport Road face funding challenges, hindering city decongestion.

Even as efforts are under way to fast-track land acquisition for the 3.70-km M.G. Road-Pullepady-Thammanam-NH Bypass corridor, a 15-year-old proposal to extend the four-lane corridor eastward from Chakkaraparambu Junction to Seaport-Airport Road, remains on paper.

The Ernakulam District Residents Associations’ Apex Council (EDRAAC), NGOs, and people’s representatives have long stressed the need to enhance east-west connectivity to decongest the city, as narrow byroads leading eastward, mostly to Kakkanad, are further obstructed by encroachments and protruding posts, worsening conditions for motorists and pedestrians.

Kochi resident and Confederation of Resident Welfare Associations State general secretary P.C. Ajith Kumar hoped the State government would allocate funds to extend the corridor up to Seaport-Airport Road to ease traffic near the accident-prone Chakkaraparambu Junction and on roads linking the NH Bypass to Kakkanad and Thripunithura.

K.B. Harshal, councillor representing Chakkaraparambu division in the Kochi Corporation, said the extension should be funded through the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board.

“The alignment passes mostly through fallow land with only a few houses. I have raised the issue multiple times in the Corporation Council, as widening existing roads would be cumbersome,” he added.

He pointed out that timely allocation of fund would also help widen the narrow and congested Vennala High School Junction, Sundarimukku Junction, and the junction where Chakkaraparambu Road meets the NH Bypass service road.

Sources in Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala, initially tasked with the project, said the extension of the M.G. Road-Pullepady-Thammanam-NH Bypass corridor to Seaport-Airport Road could have been completed in phases if the State government had allotted funds.