Long pending road project’s revival plan stokes fear

KOCHI: For the nth time, the town and country planning department revised the proposal to develop the Panampilly Nagar-Karimughal Road in a move which has heightened the concerns of residents.The proposal to build the 30m-wide road from Panampilly Nagar to Petta via Kannadikkadu and NH-66 near Vyttila Junction was made in the early 1990s. The government approved its structural plan in 2007, which effectively prohibited any other construction on the proposed stretch. This meant that many families on the stretch have been unable to carry out repairs to their homes.

Though the department officials said the plan was merely revised and that there is no move to implement it now, over 1,000 households living on the stretch, who face the threat of eviction due the proposal, alleged the officials are moving ahead with the plan without factoring them in.