Alappuzha: After a wait spanning 50 years, Alappuzha bypass, now complete, prepares for its inauguration. The Prime Minister is expected to dedicate the bypass as his new year gift to people of Alappuzha, where the strategic bypass will bring permanent solution to its traffic jams.
On Wednesday, KSEB will electrify the lamp posts and signal lights along the bypass. The Public Works authorities have now paid KSEB for the supply. One of the connections is to come from North Section of Alappuzha while 3 will come from Town Section and another 4 from the South. KSEB completed formalities following request letter from the Municipal Secretary, and power supply to street lights and signal points will mark completion of the Bypass project.
The Prime Minister’s Office had conveyed to the Chief Minister of PM’s wish to inaugurate the milestone bypass. Once PM releases the inaugural date , Alappuzha Bypass - a dream transcending generations - will finally become a reality.
A Rs 370 Crore Project
Alappuzha Bypass project cost a total of Rs 370 cores and the state contributed Rs 185 crore in half share. However , the state government incurred an additional expenditure of Rs 65 crore for renovation of Kalkode-Kommadi junction in the stretch and street lights thereof, upping state contribution to the project to Rs 250 crore.
A stretch of 7-and-half kilometers was required for building of the bypass. When Pinarayi govt came to power, the project had lay stuck with just 13 percent works done. Not even the overbridge was constructed up to then. Railways had refused to leand nod for the overbridge from over its tracks. Minister G Sudhakaran was relentless in his pursuit however, as a result of which the long-awaited nod from Railways came through. In fact, the minister’s efforts played a huge role all along, in having the remaining 87 percent of the works done and see the project complete to the finish.
