KOCHI: After 40 years, numerous proposals, fund allocation and sanction from the railway authority, the Pachalam Railway Overbridge still remains on paper. The Pachalam ROB, proposed on the Goshree-Mamangalam Road, is intended to link the western part of the city to the northern part without touching the congested business centres.“The Vallarpaddom transshipment terminal will add about 50,000 workers to the city. Add to this the number of vehicles from the terminal.Will our roads be able to take that kind of pressure? Once the Goshree-Mamangalam Road comes up, the vehicles from Goshree Islands, Vypeen, Vallarpaddom, etc can be connected to the NH-47 Highway, Edappally Bypass road, Vytilla and so on. This will divert the traffic from North ROB, Kaloor Junction and Palarivattom,” said former councillor of Pachalam, Sunil Kumar.In the absence of the Pachalam ROB, vehicles have to negotiate the Pachalam railway gate, adding to the woes of the passengers. “In an hour, at least 15 trains pass through the gate. The gate closes 106 times for the Express trains alone. Apart from this there are local goods trains, local trains and so on. But this is not all. The North railway station is very close to the gate and this station has only about four tracks. So whenever space constraints arise train stops at Pachalam railway track and the gate will remain closed till the train moves. By then you will have kilometers of vehicles on both sides,” says Jijo, a resident of Pachalam.In the Pachalam area, large tracks of land have been frozen against construction for decades. “Many of the buildings here have got clearance only on the condition that they can be demolished without compensation. These people are now against the construction of the Overbridge, since they will now lose their property,” said S K Menon, a resident of Pachalam. Even the people with shops close to the railway gate have a fear of losing their livelihood once the overbridge is built.The dissent against the road and the ROB is also vibrant among a section of the Christian community in the area. “It is a sensitive issue here. The road should be atleast 22 metres wide for JNNURM approval. But this would mean that a part of the Chathiath Church, Symmetry and the convent school. The tomb of the symmetry will be affected.”But ex-councillor M K Sunil Kumar differs. The road will not affect the church building or the symmetry. The tomb will not be affected either. A part of one of the convent school buildings will be affected. The Corporation will have to give adequate compensation or construct a new building there. The Corporation has around 40 cents of land in the stretch. There are around two and half acres of vacant plots as well, that can be acquired and redistributed for the people who might lose their land. It is now for the Corporation to act,” he said. The Railways and Bridges Development Corporation, to whom the construction work has been entrusted voice the same concern. “The funds for the construction of the overbridge has been allocated. But the corporation has to acquire the land for the construction. We cannot take up the project unless that happens,” says Stephen James, secretary RBDCK.
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