Thiruvananthapuram (TVC): Serenity prevails over the Valiyasala street, neatly lined up with tiny homesteads, each displaying perfect ‘kolams’ at the doorsteps. But this scene is only from outside the traditional settlement, a stone’s throw away from the Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station. The composure no longer exists with the residents of this place. They are, in fact, apprehensive that the mass rapid transit system – monorail – might leave the centuries-old ‘agraharams’ merely as another chapter in history, in the near future. Residents of the ‘agraharam’ that dots the Valiyasala street are worried as it is almost sure now that the Mass Rapid Transit System from Technocity to Karamana in the capital will cut across their homes.
As Kerala Mono Rail...
more... Corporation Ltd., the special purpose vehicle for the project, is gearing up for awarding the contract, the residents of 240 families are knocking at the doors of agencies to know the fate of their homesteads.
A Detailed Project Report prepared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has said that 22 families will have to be displaced and two shops in the Valiyasala street will have to be demolished. The first phase of the 22.53-km elevated monorail, carried on single pillars to come along the road medians, will be from Technocity to Karamana with 19 stations.
The alignment that cut across the street was chosen to avoid the railway overbridge and the narrow NH 66 that cannot be widened nor occupied during the construction stages. The monorail line will move along the city Corporation’s parking lot at Thampanoor, where a designated stop has been provided for railway and bus commuters.
From Thampanoor, the monorail will move through the front of New Theatre to the Government Women and Children Hospital, Thycaud, and will run parallel to the railway foot overbridge across the Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumary line to cut across the ‘agraharam’ to join the median along the Killipalam road of NH 66.
The street has been existing since the ninth and tenth centuries AD and dates back to the period of Ay dynasty. It was part of the Kanthalloor Salai, a prominent educational centre then. It was part of the Kanthalloor Salai, a prominent educational centre then, similar to Nalanda and Takshasila, the world famous educational centres.
The residents have resentment that till date, they have not received any official communication about including the area for monorail. “Several months ago, some people came here and took the measurement of the street. When we asked, they said that it is for monorail. Other than this, we residents did not get any information further,” said Raghava Sharma, another resident of the street. There are more than 200 houses on the Valiyasala Street.
