Thiruvankulam residents hit by stalled development
TRIPUNITHURA: The plots of land owned by around 51 families in Thiruvankulam were first frozen for a bypass project three decades ago. The project failed to take off and now, survey stones have been laid on some of these plots for the SilverLine project.
“I was 42-year-old when the highway authorities laid a survey stone to demarcate the 8.23-km-long Tripunithura bypass connecting Kochi-Dhanushkodi highway through Mattakuzhi -Kundannoor route. Even after 33 years, the proposed project has reached nowhere and our land remains frozen,” recalls 75-year-old T C Paulose, a resident of Mamala in Thiruvankulam. Vijayan, a contractor by profession, says his ancestral house was also frozen for the bypass project. After 33 years, the property has now been included in the K-Rail route, he says.
Similar is the case of the 15 cents of land owned by Indira. “We completed the foundation works of our dream house on my wife’s property. However, we could not complete the construction,” says Appu, Indira’s husband.
“Though four hectares of land were acquired for this project, the remaining 12 hectares were not acquired due to paucity of funds. We couldn’t sell or pledge our land as demarcation stones were laid. Then, there was a proposal for the Kochi-Theni highway through this route. But, the proposed road stopped at Puthencruz. Later, the Angamaly-Kundannoor six-lane highway proposal was also scrapped,” Jaimon said.
“We have been observing death anniversaries of the projects by placing a wreath over it every year,” said Gee Varghese, another resident.