Giving wings to the long-pending demand of the people of Vallarpadom, the 17-crore Vallarpadom ring road-cum-bund project will take off in the next six months.
According to officials with the Irrigation Department, the project is awaiting technical sanction from the government. However, they are hopeful that the nod will come within the next few weeks. “Once we are given the sanction, tenders will be called and we will start the construction of the stone embankment in the next few months,” said Irrigation (Major) Department Head Hari Narayanan.
The project, initiated last year following demands from local farmers and residents, coupled with pressure exerted by the then Minister S Sarma, is being financed by the Goshree Islands Development Authority (GIDA). Once the stone embankment is formed, the Irrigation Department will also undertake the work of a ring road there which will develop the connectivity potential of the islanders to the main road and the Goshree bridges.
The construction of the ring road will begin from the Goshree Bridge at Vallarpadom and will continue to the Vallarpadom Basilica and will move up to panchayat jetty near Mulavukadu.
“The protection stone embankment will also keep the area free of water which is a huge cause of concern for the public there. For this, a bit of the backwaters in the region will have to be filled up,” said an official with the Irrigation Department. The two-lane road is expected to benefit container lorries and buses apart from giving better connection for the people of the area.
Meanwhile, S Sarma said that once the project is completed, it will pave way to backwater tourism. “Just like beach tourism, we expect that the backwater tourism in this region will flourish. The tourist inflow in the region is already quite good with the famous Our lady of Ransom Church in the region,” he said.
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