Greens cry foul on road widening in Thiruvananthapuram
Social forestry officials say that there is a long list of valuable trees, which might get devoured by the project.
Thiruvananthapuram: Environmentalists are alarmed about the Public Works Department’s plan to connect the road in front of Government Guest House to Mettukkada junction. The project, they fear, will destroy yet another green lung in the city. The objective is to direct some of the traffic from the existing road between Government Guest House junction to Mettukkada junction, to the new road.
A senior PWD official said,“The road has been lying idle. If it is connected to Mettukkada junction, it will be beneficial to people. It will also be widened to 12 metres. At present, the width ranges from 8-10 m.” Social forestry officials say that there is a long list of valuable trees, which might get devoured by the project. They name copper pods (charakkonna), raintrees (mazhamaram) and mahogany. They have not receive any request to cut the tree.
Tree Walk, an organisation of environmentalists, has recorded a few trees here. The first of a series of walks called ABC of trees, meant to introduce people to trees, started on this road. Veena M., a Tree Walk volunteer, says, “We visited a custard apple tree, on this roadside.” One does not often find custard apple trees in a city area.
PWD officials say that the idea to extend the road was proposed by District Collector Biju Prabhakar. They say that though there are no major traffic issues now, the project is important for the city’s development. Moreover land acquisition is easy as it is government land, they said.
It is important to have a straight road here, according to Anil Kumar Pandala, project director, City Roads and Infrastructure Development Project. “The existing road between Government Guest House junction and Mettukkada is especially dangerous for the two-wheeler riders, as the roads meet at odd angles,” he said.