Demand for Chathiath-Chennur road grows louder

Mud from the bund that is to be demolished can be used for construction, say islanders

In pursuance of their long-pending demand for a road linking Chathiath in mainland Ernakulam with Chennur, through the string of islands located in between, the islanders have demanded that a portion of the around 15 lakh cubic metres of mud that will shortly be removed from the backwaters off Vaduthala, be used to build the road that was envisaged in the 1960s. The massive accumulation of mud and slush occurred since the construction firm, which built the railway overbridge to link the container transshipment terminal at Vallarpadam with the mainland, failed to demolish a temporary bund that it built beneath the structure a decade ago. A decision to demolish the bund was taken in June, since Kalamassery and Aluva were of late encountering flooding, with the bund obstructing free flow of water. With a high-level meeting to discuss issues regarding the Vembanad lake slated for Saturday, Francis Dianish, vice chairman of Pizhala Karamuttikal Samara Samithi, an NGO formed to catalyse the establishment of road connectivity with the isles, sent a memorandum in this regard to the Minister for Industries P. Rajeeve.