Update About Proposed New Bypass in Attingal

The final survey for the new bypass in Attingal has been conducted. The marking of the proposed road has been over, but the actual work has not started. It is learnt that the land acquisition process will start soon. The Highway Development authorities had earlier set a deadline of December 31, 2009 for the completion of land acquisition process. The issues surrounding Puthenkavu temple and land acquisition seem to have died down.

Now the main issue is about the fate of the present highway. The Highway Development authorities had made it clear that they would not be expanding the present highway into a four-lane road (the entire stretch from Kollam to Thiruvananthapuram of NH 47 is about to be converted into a four-lane road). Instead, the proposed bypass would be treated as the four-lane part of the highway. In effect, this would result in the present highway becoming a bypass, and the new road becoming the actual highway.

Many prominent social and business leaders of Attingal are against this, as they feel it would somewhat downgrade the town. Importantly, CPI(M) local leadership too shares the same view. As a result, the CPI(M)-dominated Municipal council of Attingal even passed a resolution that it wants the widening of the present highway first and the bypass construction only after that.

Anyways, if the progress of the marking process of the proposed new bypass in Attingal is any indication, the construction work is likely to start somewhere in 2010 – touch wood – as promised.

The real estate brokers and speculators are the people who enjoy the situation most. The land price in several areas near Attingal through which the proposed bypass passes through has skyrocketed.