Thiruvananthapuram: Rs 55 crore subway for pedestrian safety

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As part of its effort to enable safe and convenient cross over for the pedestrians and commuters at East Fort, which is infamous for pedestrian deaths and accidents, the city corporation is planning to construct a subway under the Smart City initiative.  The plan is to construct the subway 1.2 m below the existing road level.

After a couple of preliminary discussions, the civic body is gearing up to take the project to the next level. On Monday, Mayor V.K. Prasanth chaired a meeting with the heads of various departments and experts for gathering opinions on the project.

Officials from various departments including  Kerala Water Authority (KWA), Public Works Department (PWD), Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB), Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). Mayor told DC that a letter would be given to the Chief Minister to call for a meeting with various ministers to finalise the project.

“We need the cooperation from all these departments and a Chief Minister-level meeting would help expedite the procedures. Our plan is to complete the project within a year. East Fort is known for accidents and several people have lost their lives and the subway is the only solution as other constructions are not allowed because of the Archaeological relevance of the spot,” said the Mayor.  

He said that around 70 street vendors would be given rehabilitation at the proposed subway which would interconnect Chalai Market, East Fort Bus Stand, Putharikandam Maidan and Gandhi Park.  The major challenges for the project would be traffic diversions, KWA sewage line diversion, shifting of other utility lines and road cutting permission from the PWD.

Mayor said that the project would be executed in a phased manner to facilitate smooth traffic. Technical expert and former TRDCL (Trivandrum Road Development Corporation Ltd) vice-president Anil Kumar Pandala said that subway is the best solution to end the chaos at East Fort. He said that if the design is proper there will not be any flooding issue.