The Hindu Business Line : Kochi: A highway of opportunity

Considering future development activities in the Puthuvypeen and Vallarpadam areas on account of various upcoming projects, the Goshree Island Development Authority (GIDA) plans to construct a coastal highway linking Vypeen-Munambam stretch in the western part of Kochi for easy accessibility.

The Ernakulam District Collector, Mr A. P. M.Mohammed Haneesh, who is also the Secretary of GIDA, constituted for the integrated developments of islands off mainland Kochi, said there would be a development boom on the western side of Kochi mainland with the commissioning of the Vallarpadam Container Transhipment Terminal, coupled with the other expansion plans proposed in the port-based special economic zone (SEZ) at Puthuvypeen. With all these developments taking place in that area, the existing infrastructure would need to be improved to cope with the new demand, he said.

Four-lane carriage way

The proposed coastal highway, with a total length of 25.3 km from Puthuvypeen to NH-17 near Munambam, is expected to cost Rs 219.85 crore. The project, which will run parallel to the existing road in the Vypeen-Munambam area, will have a four-lane carriage way with median and service roads and footpaths on either side.

The highway will provide an alternate route to reach NH-17 without entering the city and facilitate smooth evacuation of traffic from the port-based SEZ area at Puthuvypeen. Besides the Vallarpadam Container Transhipment Terminal, Mr Haneesh said, the LNG Terminal, Cruise Terminal and Single Point Mooring of Kochi Refineries Ltd were some of the projects coming up in the area and the proposed coastal highway would provide an alternative in case the existing road in the Vypeen-Munambam area gets blocked. The existing road, with a length of 25 km, was heavily congested and it would be difficult to absorb the additional traffic when all these projects start functioning. The existing road carries one bus per minute, in addition to other vehicles.

Planning ahead

With the development of Vallarpadam terminal, the flow of containers to Vallarpadam through road from Kochi city would see significant increase. The already congested roads of the mainland would get choked as a result. Even the proposed NH connectivity from Vallarpadam to Kalamassery was bound to get overcrowded, resulting in considerable traffic blockade between Kalamassery and Thrissur on the NH-47. Therefore, an alternate easy route would have to be planned in advance to facilitate easy flow of traffic in the mainland, he said. A number of mega projects are getting established in the accreted land in Puthuvypeen of which some are hazardous in nature.

The only access to these industrial plots is the present road constructed by Kochi Port as an extension of Goshree road. In the event of any catastrophe, an alternate escape route is essential. As the port road connects this area to the southern end of Vypeen-Munambam road, another highway connecting to the northern end will help easy evacuation in case of any emergency.

Mr Haneesh said the GIDA had come out with a proposal for 30-m wide new road as an extension of Goshree road towards North and finally joining NH-17. This would be an inter-district road facilitating transportation from the high activity area to the hinterland. It had been estimated that around 85.50 hectares of land would be needed to construct the coastal highway.

As the road alignment was mostly through marshy lands, far away from roads, objections towards land acquisitions would be minimum, he said.

Execution options

Regarding execution of the project, the Collector said several options were available with GIDA. One was to entrust the project to the Union Government, whereby the road comes under the ownership of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). The other option was taking it up as a joint venture of GIDA, the Kerala Government, the Union Government, stakeholders (both private and public) and transferring the road to NHAI on completion.

Another option would be to execute the project jointly by GIDA, the State Government and the stakeholders with the road coming under the ownership of GIDA and other stakeholders, with the former owning the road.

The FACT Engineering and Design Organisation (FEDO) was drawing up a detailed project for the proposed coastal highway and Kochi Refineries had donated Rs 3 crore for the project. The Kerala Chief Minister had also agreed to take steps to secure Central assistance for the coastal highway, Mr Haneesh said.

This would be a road connecting the major Union Government projects coming under the port-based SEZ in Puthuvypeen and the Centrally-assisted model fishing harbour at Munambam, he added.

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