Ettumanoor: Work on the new bridge at Mannanam in Kottayam district is all set to resume after a long bureaucratic delay. PWD Minister P A Muhammed Riyas will inaugurate the work on Sunday in the presence of Ports and Cooperation Minister V N Vasavan, K Francis George, MP, and former MP Thomas Chazhikadan.

The new bridge is being constructed as a KSTP (Kerala State Transport Project) initiative under the Rebuild Kerala project at an estimated cost of ₹24.83 crore. It will meet the specifications of the national waterway, with a length of 228.7 m, a width of 12 m and a height of 6 m above the monsoon water level.

It is proposed to complete the work in 12 months, said KSTP authorities. The bridge will enable easier access to the Medical College and Mannanam from places such as Kallara and Neendoor, they added. Hundreds of students attending various educational institutions in Mannanam will also benefit, the KSTP authorities pointed out. "By constructing the bridge, the government is fulfilling another promise made during the last Assembly election," said Minister Vasavan.

How work was disrupted
The Mannanam bridge lies on the Mannanam-Neendoor road and connects Neendoor and Athirampuzha panchayats across the Pennar rivulet. There have been persistent demands to replace the old bridge at the spot for decades. The narrow old bridge allows passage of a single vehicle to one side at a time and is in a precarious condition. Sections of the beams and handrails of the bridge have already come off. Over the years, local people have staged several agitations demanding the demolition of the old structure and the construction of a new bridge.

Following these developments, the authorities prepared the plan for a new bridge and procedures reached the stage of starting the work. However, a notification was then issued by the Centre, including the Pennar stream in the national waterway, which led to the suspension of further procedures.

This was because bridges over national waterways needed a mandatory minimum length of 41 m, a width of 12 m and a height of 6 m above the monsoon water level. However, the bridge proposed at Mannanam had a length of only 10 m and a width of 4m.

A revised master plan meeting the national waterway guidelines was later prepared following the intervention of Minister Vasavan. The local residents have been facing much hardship after the work came to a standstill a few years ago. Presently, vehicles from Mannanam take the Villoonni route to reach Neendoor.