DMRC resumes work on Pachalam railway overbridge amid protests

KOCHI: The work on Pachalam railway overbridge (ROB), which had come to a standstill for almost two months following protests by local residents, resumed on Thursday evening.
Though the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) began construction of the ROB in the morning, protesters soon disrupted the work. By 4pm, protesters were removed by the police and DMRC’s contractors resumed work.
The piling work on Pachalam side of the ROB had come to a halt due to protests on September 26.Protesters wanted authorities to scrap the current plan of building a 10-metre wide bridge for a 22-metre one, designed by Kitco.
District collector M G Rajamanickam held discussions with representatives of Janakeeya Samara Samithy (people’s action council), the forum which led the protests, to solve the issue. The district administration has agreed to the demand of protesters and decided to hold discussions with the local MLA and MPs and explore the possibility of reviving the Kitco design.
Though the administration requested agitators to stop the strike for five days, they ignored it and protested against acquiring land of Kattungal Temple at Pachalam.
“We gave an assurance that land of the temple won’t be acquired. We can’t allow people to stop work as there is a court order asking us to give police protection,” Rajamanickam said. According to DMRC officials, the government has to pay an additional Rs 80 lakh to contractors as idling charges.
“We have already constructed nine pillars and piers on the Vaduthala side. We have started the work on the superstructure (viaduct) also. We had to stop piling on Pachalam side within a few days after starting it,” an official with the Metro agency said.
“The work on viaduct stopped on June 29. According to contractors, their equipment and vehicles have been remaining idle since then. So, the government has to pay Rs 80 lakh as idling charges,” he said. Earlier, Kitco had prepared a plan to construct the ROB with a width of 22 metres. “We want authorities to execute the Kitco design rather than the current design with a width of just 10 metres. If the ROB is constructed following the current design, it will create congestion on the approach roads to the ROB. Authorities will then have to widen these roads which may result in the eviction of around 400 families in the area,” said Abiju Ramesh, BJP constituency committee president and leader of the Janakeeya Samara Samithy.
But he failed to give details, including areas from where the 400 families would have to be evicted.
Meanwhile, officials with the revenue department said that the land of just 28 residents needs to be acquired for the ROB now. “For the current design, we require only 51 cents. We will have to evict some traders who run shops in rented buildings there. But we are also compensating those who have taken shops on rent,” he said.
To construct a 22-metre wide ROB, around seven acres of land will have to be acquired. Moreover, the project cost will rise from the current Rs 70 crore to Rs 167 crore. Moreover, the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission project has almost been wound up. So, mobilizing funds will be a hurdle, sources said. Officials also said that no ROB in the city, except the north ROB, had a width of over 10 metres.