Venduruthy Bridge paves way for Navys underpass

KOCHI: After decades of bearing the burden of the city’s heavy traffic, the old Venduruthy Bridge was finally closed down on Tuesday. The traffic on the route has been completely relegated to the newly-opened Venduruthy-Vikranth Bridge. The entrance to the old bridge near the naval base is now left for the construction of the underpass for the Navy. “The first phase of the construction of the underpass has been completed. To carry out the second phase of the work, we needed a ‘No Objection Certificate’ from the Railways as the underpass passes alongside the area under the Railways. Now that we have obtained the certificate, the construction work is going on at full pace. We hope to complete the underpass within three months,” said T I Jose, executive engineer (in-charge), PWD (Roads).“An underpass is being constructed to connect the naval base with Katari Bagh. This underpass will pass through the entrance of the old Venduruthy bridge located on the side of the naval base and hence, it is closed for all other practical purposes. Even after the completion of the construction of the underpass, the chances of the old bridge being opened for the traffic is low as the bridge is rusted and a substantial portion of its entrance will taken up by the underpass,” said a PWD official who is in-charge of the project. The PWD will undertake the work with the guidance from the Navy.Meanwhile, the underpass to be built at an approximate cost of `12 crore is expected to ease the traffic on the main road.  “On the completion of the  underpass, traffic movement between the naval base and Katari Bagh will be completely via the underpass. As of now, the vehicles from the base are using the main road for the movement. The underpass will help in reducing the traffic on the main road substantially,” a Navy official said.The construction of the underpass was envisioned along with the construction of the new Venduruthy-Vikranth Bridge. However, delay in availing the permission from the Railways interfered in kick-starting the project.