In
1975, the foundation stone for the work of the National Highway-47 bypass
through our Islands at Kumbalam and Panangad was laid. The work progressed at a
very slow pace. The acquisition of land for Ernakulam-Alleppy coastal railway-line
began only in 1981. This railway-line was later extended up to Kayamkulam. During
mid 1990s, both these mega-infrastructural projects were in brisk progress.
This drastically transformed
the landscape of Kumbalam Island. The tiny, quiet Island dramatically changed
to a fast developing suburban area with lots of migrant population. One noticed
huge buildings coming up here and there. Great progress was made in the field
of communication, electricity and potable water connections.
The
land acquisition for the construction of the railway network was made without
any foresight. The authorities did not consider the hardships and difficulties
that caused to the villagers. The railway line severed the Island into two unequal
halves as it was planned to be almost through the middle of Kumbalam Island. Due
to their indiscriminate land acquisition certain areas became landlocked
preventing further development of roads to facilitate road transport from NH-47.
Wet lands became waterlogged thereby making cultivation impossible. The
remaining lands after acquisition were scattered and therefore cultivation
became impracticable. Those who were neighbours for generations became total
strangers over a period of thirty to forty years when land acquisition by the
government forcibly separated them either by a highway or a railway line with
high embankments at a height of seven meters closer to the bridges. These severances
remained as a “Berlin Wall” between
them to last a whole life time.
The
railway embankment and the railway-line constructed were at a height of six to
seven meters or more. This was the
access to enter the bridges above the Vembanad Backwaters. I was amazed to find
that the railway authorities originally had intentions to provide only steps to
climb up the railway embankment to cross the railway track at Panditji Road at
Kumbalam north end. Again, they intended only an eight feet wide tiny passage
on the PWD main road at Kumbalam south end which was the gateway to the
National Highway. No provision for drains was made to avert flooding of water
from the paddy fields situated on the western side of the railway line. This unrealistic
move forced me to meet the Deputy Chief Engineer and Executive Engineer,
Constructions, Southen Railway at Ernakulam. I took the initiative to provide
two wide Road-Under-Bridges (RUB), one at the south end and another at the north
end of Kumbalam. A few drains too were necessary to avert the flooding in the
paddy fields. Political intervention too had to be sought. I got in touch with Shri.
Vasudeva Panikker, the general secretary of Congress (I), which was the political
party in power then. Fortunately, he was
also a member of the Railway Board. Prof. K.V. Thomas M.P. (Ernakulam Parliament
Constituency, who was one of my favourite teachers in Sacred Heart College at
Thevara,) too sincerely extended his help to my endeavour to provide these two Road-Under-Bridges.
With their intervention the Southern Railway provided two Road Under Bridges (RUBs)
to alleviate the hardships and difficulties for road transport to the northern
and eastern areas of Kumbalam Island from NH-47. A few drains too were provided
to avert flooding in paddy fields. The Railway provided a total 9.16 M
corresponding to 30 feet wide (15 feet plus 15 feet with a pillar separating
the two composite RUB) passage at Kumbalam south; and a 15 feet wide RUB at
Panditji Road in Kumbalam north. The height of the latter RUB is less than five
meters and therefore buses and trucks will not pass through. Lack of foresight
and parochial considerations resulted in a heavy loss to the Islanders
occupying the eastern half of Kumbalam. This has to be remedied in the years to
come by providing an additional Road Under Bridge close to the bridge above the
Vembanad Backwaters at the Kumbalam north end. Similarly an additional large drain
has to be erected to avert water logging at Thirunilath paddy fields situated
on the western side of the railway embankment and that has to be connected to
the ‘Tharamassery concrete drain covered with slabs’ located on the northern
side of the ‘Tharamassery Road’ on the eastern side of railway embankment situated
in between Re Sy. Nos. 19 and 20 of Block 15 of Kumbalam Village.
In
order to take advantage of the new road transport facility through the National
Highway-47 bypass, the road networks in Kumbalam too had to be widened and
developed to make them motorable. Those days, the eight to ten feet wide sandy
PWD Road was not motorable.
I
recall the winding sandy PWD Road, with dips and humps. It was flanked by hedge
trees which were covered with plaited coconut leaves and thorny bamboo fencings.
The branches of hedge trees on either side of this road overlapped forming a
canopy as if to protect the pedestrians from the scorching sun. There were wild
flowering trees like, Indian Labernum, Elanji,
Bougain-villas, Hibiscus, Mullu-murikku
and Gulmohur with their varied hue of flowers. Fragrance of some of those
flowers wafted in the air. Wild birds
too could be seen perched on the branches of these hedges emanating their sweet
shrill cries. Fruit laden branches of Elanji,
Njaval and Mango trees swayed in the gentle
breeze as if to welcome the children. The children pelted stones and grabbed
the fallen fruits and munched them on their way home. The scenic beauty of the
landscape and the peaceful and serene atmosphere of the village life were overwhelming.
One required the skill of an acrobat to drive a motor-cycle through that bumpy sandy pathway. Everytime
a truck approached, the riders on two wheelers had to give way by moving into
any adjacent plot. Several
times I too helped to cut a few branches of hedges for the truck to proceed. The
vehicles ploughed through this road kicking up dust. This made it next to impossible for
pedestrians to use it. During the monsoon the inundated village road took the
shape of a canal with innumerable puddles; the moving vehicles splashed dirty
water on pedestrians. This resulted in the exchange of verbal abuses. Perhaps
only the small school-going children enjoyed splashing dirty water on each
other and fully drenched in the bargain, their trivial joys!
I
met the Kumbalam Panchayat President of that time, Shri. N.K. Parameswaran, and
apprised him about the hardships and difficulties the villagers were going to
face after the construction of the railway-line. I highlighted the need to widen and
improve the village roads to take advantage of the NH-47 bypass. At that point
of time, the Panchayat had hardly any funds to acquire land for widening the
PWD main road. Shri. N.K. Parameswaran, a senior Marxist Communist Party
leader, was well aware of his strength as well as his shortcomings. N K as he is
informally called and I struck a good rapport with him. He candidly told me that
if he requests for free surrender of
land, a majority would not accede to it as he represented a political party which
worked against the interests of the land owners. I did not give up; I further
met the opposition leader Shri. P.V. Sreedharan. He too frankly expressed his helplessness
in the matter.
Both the
leaders thought that it was not feasible to obtain land free of cost because of
the sudden escalation of the land value due to these mega-infrastructural
developmental projects. I tried my best to involve young men like
Murali Thandasseril, a mature gentleman with pleasing manners. He had
leadership qualities and a keen inclination for social service; Bastin
Pidiyancheril, a talented singer, who used to go abroad for stage shows and Pius
Tirunilath-Thayamkeril, who too showed interest in the “expansion project.” He was
a Cadet Captain in N.C.C., naval wing, while he was studying in Sacred Heart College.
I promised to help them financially for this “Road Widenning Project” of mine. Unfortunately
they all backed out due to their personal and official commitments which left
them with no spare time. I too had just started off as a budding independent
lawyer in Cochin, after my practice with a very reputed lawyer, later judge of
the Supreme Court of India. I was a bachelor then. I used to come home on
Saturdays to spend some time with my father, who was living alone in our
ancestral house. I also found some time on Sundays to meet and spend with my
friends too at Kumbalam. When I broached the subject of development of our PWD main
road to my close friends in the village all of them encouraged me. My father
too appreciated my idea. As a gesture of total allegiance and support to the proposition,
my father was the first person to surrender his valuable land for the road
widening project. I had my father’s blessings at the outset. This made me confident.
Coupled with this, my experiences as the prime minister of the Sevamandir Post
Basic School at Ramanattukara in Malappuram district; the discipline and
leadership training that I received and my experiences as a senior under
officer in NCC while studying in Sacred Heart College at Thevara; my rigorous training
under an erudite, aggressive and eminent lawyer and judge of the Supreme Court
of India, Justice Shri. K.S. Paripooran, and my experience as a budding trial lawyer contributed largely to
my confidence. I took it up as a challenge and believed it my duty to help the Islanders.
My varied life experiences helped me confront the innumerable problems with
ease to achieve my final goal after seven years.
The quest for this mission commenced on 6-5-1986. At the outset, as the President
of the newly constituted Public Interest Forum, I took the initiative to issue
a public notice to the villagers. I conducted a few corner meetings in my
village to create an awareness of the immediate need of the hour; that is for development of our main road
leading to the National Highway-47 and Ikkara Road leading to the Kumbalam railway
station; and the practical necessity to surrender land free of cost for
widening and straightening both the roads in the relevant areas. My close friends
to name a few like Xavier Edangarupally, Geochan Kallarakkal, Bastin
Pidiyamcheril, Antony Kareethra, Ravi Thekkedath, Mohanan Vathuveettil, Abraham
Edangarupally, Xavi Pidiyancheril, Paul Thirunilath-Thayamkeril and my other
friends whenever they were available in Kumbalam along with a lot of youngsters
like A.P. Antony Ameparampil, Lawrence Kelanthara, Sidhan Mattamparambu,
Ramakrishnan Thachappally, Cleto Ochira,
Appachan Kallarakkal came forward
to give me a helping hand. In two years time we were able to get 99% of the
surrender of land free of cost for an additional ten to twelve feet to make it a
twenty feet wide road along the entire length of the four k.m. long road. This
was a great achievement. Most of the sharp curves were straightened out but for
a few which had to be compromised due to humanitarian reasons to the landlord.
The hurdles I encountered in this feat were many. Certain stubborn land owners were difficult to
convince and persuade them to voluntarily surrender their land free of cost. There
are instances when only repeated attempts have prooved successful in obtaining
free surrender. The total extent of the land surrendered free of cost to the
government comes to more than three acres, the value of which at the current
rate is about twenty crores of
rupees. As a result, the Islanders have obtained an advantage of thousands of
crores of rupees by the escalation in land value after the widening of the
village road. After this successful first stage of my “Road Widening Project”,
we embarked upon the second phase.
In
this next stage the actual execution of the commitments given to widen the P W D
Road had to be implementd. This involved the cutting and removing of the varied
hedge trees and fences; the existing boundary walls had to be demolished. We sought
more participation and also financial commitment from the Islanders. I convened
a meeting of the Islanders through yet another public notice. The Panchayat
President and other senior local leaders were specially invited to participate
in the public meeting. In this platform, I gave clarity to the gathering about
the progress of the road widening project. All the leaders were praised for their help
and co-operation to make the free surrender of land a success. I highlighted
the further hurdles that I anticipated. I again pleaded for their wholehearted co-operation
to attain our final goal of tarring the road at a wider width. We even promised
them to ply buses to different destinations
like Cheranellur, Ponekkara, Aluva and Kakkanad. Each and every leader was
given time to speak on the issue. Thereafter, I proposed to select new road
committee comprisng dynamic young-men to move the project forward in the right
direction. The elderly leaders were made patrons of the road committee to aid
and advise the youngsters from time to time. The public meeting proposed my
name for the post of President of the Kumbalam PWD Road Development Committee.
M.K. Purushothaman Mattamparambu and C.C. Karunakaran Master were elected to
the post of Secretary and Treasurer of the committee. Murali Thandasseril and
Bastin Pidiyancheril were nominated as the Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurer
respectively. Sidhan Mattamparambu, A.P. Antony Ameparampil, Lawrence
Kelanthara, Ramakrishnan Ravindran Thachappally, Cleto Ochira, Vijayan Mavunkal,
Sarasan Chittel, Appachan Kallarackal, Saju Palathingal, Huslin (Kachi)
Chembalamsseril-Nikarthil, were elected and
co-opted as the members of the executive committee. The Road Committee succeded
in inaugurating the road widening work, by those who initially opposed the road
widening project. About a hundred and fifty to two hundred people, young and
old alike, actively and sincerely participated in the road widening project. The
cutting and removal of hedge trees was a painful experience for me and the
Islanders. But we were helpless. However, we made it a point to plant varied
hedges on the shifted fences that we erected for the property owners.
While surrendering the land free of cost, some
of the land owners made requests that the Road Committee should see that a
similar boundary wall may be erected after demolition. In order to cut and
remove the huge hedge trees a lot of skilled labour was required who had to be
given their wages for performing their tasks. Minnan, a veteran wood cutter and
his men were engaged for
bringing down huge trees. Shouri, a popular mason, and his men erected the boundary walls. They
did a wonderful job. Many youngsters were ready to give “Sramdan”, free labour and service; they had to be given atleast adequate
refreshments during their labour. We went from house to house for fund collection.
Several well-wishers gave as donations liberally. We conducted a few film shows
and raised funds but that was not sufficient. As part of the fund raising
campaign, we staged a professional drama directed by a veteran Malayalam film
star, Shri. Thilakan. This was a success. In six months time the widening work
was completed. I never encouraged the committee members to conduct meetings with
pomp and show as this would incur heavy expenses; this money could be channelised
for more constructive and creative purposes.
The
road widening work developed into a movement and it created ripples in the
adjacent and adjoining villages. They too got energized and started widening
their roads to facilitate vehicular transport and progress to their countrysides.
Some of the dedicated youngsters who worked with me deserve special mention. They are Sidhan Mattamparambu, He is presently the Tasildar, Revenue
Department, Kodungallur, A.P. Antony Ameparampil, now working in S.H. College
at Thevara, Lawrence Kelanthara who is now employed in HIC-ABF (a Japanese Sea
Food Exporting Company) in the Industrial Estate at Aroor and Ramakrishnan Ravindran
Thachappally, a freelancer. I found that
their sheer dedication and devotion have made them assets not only to our
Islanders but also to the respective Institutions they are now attached
to. If the energy of our youngsters is
properly guided or channelised, it can work wonders. It could be utilized as a
nation building excercise. The success
of our road widening project is a humble and tiny example for the same.
Submitting
memorandums, representations and recommendations by the Kumbalam Panchayat, sending
several reminders for various matters to the different ministries at New- Delhi
and also to the federal capital at Trivandrum and to the various department heads
at Ernakulam were herculean tasks. I am grateful to my steno-typist and clerk Shri. T.T.
Kunjumon, Thottekkat, Near St. Sebastian’s church at Aroor. He is now a Revenue
Inspector in the Revenue Department at Ernakulam and his promotion is due for
the post of Dy. Tahsildar. Shri. Chandramohan, Thoppuveliyil, another clerk of
mine too residing near Keltron Road at Aroor, assisted me in steno-typing the various matters
to be forwarded. Without their unstinted help and co-operation I would not have
been able to achieve my goals effectively.
I
distinctly remember the Ernakulam District Collector, Shri. P.J. Thomas IAS, Polayil,
Thycattussery, who used to encourage and
help me in my projects. On few occasions, when I had postings in the High Court
of Kerala on a particular day when I had to meet him, he accommodated me at his
breakfast table when he patiently listened to me and passed orders approving or
recommending our varied prayers on our projects. Shri.
Rajan IAS and Shri. Rajagopal IAS were the other two district collectors who supported
our cause. I am grateful to all of them. The Vyttila Block Development Officer,
Thomas, was always there with a helping hand. Prof. K.V. Thomas M.P. used to
send covering letters for all our communications. After the PWD Road widening
process, there were about 176 electric posts that were standing in the middle
of the PWD main road. All these obstructions had to be relocated including the entire
telephone posts, and public water connections. They were shifted to the road
margins. This was made possible only with the representation followed by the covering
letters of Prof. K.V. Thomas M.P., who was later Minister of State for
Agriculture, New Delhi. The first road tarring work of the PWD road was
completed at a width of twelve feet by our native contractor, Shri. Andrew
Pidiyancheril. I remember Shri. Mohammed, then assistant engineer PWD at Mattancherry,
and Shri, Prakash, then assistant engineer, KSE Board at Maradu, for their
timely help and co-operation at each stage of the developmental works of the
road. The regional transport officer at the direction of the district collector
sanctioned a few buses and they started plying to some of the destinations at
Ernakulam. Since there was no bus terminal at Kumbalam north, my father
permitted the buses to be parked on in his property, opposite Oli Mana. The
work of the bus terminal at Kumbalam north too was completed shortly
thereafter. On behalf of the Islanders of Kumbalam we are thankful for the
services they had rendered for the progress of this Island, a nation building
exercise.
Similarly,
A.P. Antony Ameparampil, Lawrence Kelanthara, Pappy Kelanthara, Thampi
Chemmanadi, Nandanan Eravelil, Sudhakaran Vazhavelil, Harshan Vadakkechira,
Muraleedharan Paruthuruthil, Kunjumon Kaithaparambu assisted me for the new
Priyadarsini Road free surrender work. Almost rupees one lakh twenty-five
thousand was sanctioned by the Director of Panchayat, Trivandrum for the work
of the new Priyadarsini Road Work at Kumbalam north based on the recommendation
letter of Prof. K.V. Thomas M.P. At this point of time the Punchayat committee
was defunct, and they could not raise even five thousand rupees for this valid
cause.
On
10-7-1988, the PWD Road Committee issued a public notice giving the statement
of accounts pertaining to receipts and expenses of the road widening project.
The Islanders accepted it as granted. They knew that I had spent much more than
what was available in the fund. All the expenses for the paper work, shuttling
to New-Delhi, Trivandrum, and various offices at Ernakulam were all spent from
my own pocket.
I
believe that the success of “the free surrender of land for the P.W.D. Road
widening project and the new Priyadarsini Road project” was due to the awareness
felt amongst the Islanders that it was the need of the hour. They were sensible and practical to
understand that unless they surrender land free of cost, the government would
not invest funds for the development of the roads. The conduct of the project work
was above socio-political and parochial considerations. It is significant that
developmental works shall never be mixed with politics. I did my best to give
all the credit to all the political leaders and all the dedicated youngsters
and my close friends who extended their helping hand in that venture. With my dream
fulfilled, I neither desired nor claimed any credit for what I had done to
achieve this great feat solely for the development of the Island and the
Islanders. The wholehearted support from the people at Kumbalam and their co-operation
in executing my ideas transformed my dreams
into a reality. I always considered it my duty to render help and sacrifice
time and energy for a common cause in times of need. Now, it is with a sense of joy and
satisfaction that I gaze at the crowded passenger buses, trucks all laden with
heavy goods and even the smaller two and three wheelers plying through this
widened road, an outcome of our hard labour. I feel content and happy that God
Almighty gave me a wonderful opportunity to help the commoners of this Village,
Kumbalam.
The
piling works for the Ferry Boat Jetty at Kumbalam north end also has its own
tale. Just before the work was to
commence the local people pointed out to the contractor that the adjacent
backwater area is very shallow. Therefore,
it would be a sheer waste after huge funds are pumped in for its construction
at that particular location. Even dredging of that area to facilitate water
transport was not feasible. The objections from the people did not deter the
decision of the contractor. The panchayat member who came to the scene was
scared to intervene in the issue. The Contractor commenced the piling and completed hammeing
two piles that day. Late in the evening, I received a call from Asokan and
Thilakan Vadakkechira who explained the gravity of the situation to me. I
requested them to handover the phone to any of the responsible officers
supervising the project. When the supervisor on duty came on line I made him
understand his foolish move. I told him, “You are trying to construct a boat
jetty in the shallow backwaters where there is hardly a meter of water at high
tide. I emphasized the fact that no purpose would be served by its construction.
Due to the carelessness, and negligence on the part of the Engineers, Overseer
of PWD (Irrigation) at Ernakulam and the Contractor huge public funds are going
to be wasted. I alleged that they will be personally accountable for the
damages occasioned by lack of reasonable care and due to your callous
indifference.”
He was
forced to suspend the work as I had threatened to take up the matter with the District
Collector and higher authorities of the department. He finally agreed to stop
the work. The next morning, I met the PWD Engineer in his office and apprised
him of the seriousness of the matter. He inspected the work site immediately and
was convinced. He shifted the boat jetty to the north-west end and put up an
earth bund to extend it five meters further to facilitate the transport through
ferry boats. I am of the opinion,
“Every citizen has a right to point out and ask the officers concerned to
correct their inadvertent mistakes and anomalies in their work. We are helping
them to avert blunders which might land them in trouble. It is significant that
“public money should not be wasted.”
There
are granite embankments constructed on the coastal shores of Kumbalam Island. I
noticed that the embankments on the north-western and northen sides were
getting damaged due to heavy rains in the monsoon, the tide and turbulence on backwaters
created by fast moving ferry service boats and speed-boats. After written
requests, the PWD Irrigation department renovated the grantite bund to a length
of two hundred meters on either side of the boat jetty. The contractor did the
work reasonably well. In October and November 2011, the Inland Navigation Department
now in chage undertook to do a further renovation of this bund. So they
demolished the granite bunds from the high tide level. But this time, the contractor
and his men did a shoddy work. The bund
has already given-way in various areas. This has created inundation of large
extent of soil in Oli ‘Kayaloram’,
shore and other places. This is a grave issue. The concerned officers and the
contractor are responsible for the damages and loss caused to the Islanders for
the erosion of soil.
I
wish to note that two other important roads at Kumbalam also require immediate widening:
the Ikkara Road leading to the railway station and the Siva Temple Road. Over a period of time road-over-bridges
could be constructed on the Ikkara and Kalathil-parambu roads. The land owners
on either sides of Ikkara Road and Siva Temple Road leading to Kalathil-parambu
Road should take the initiative free surrender for widening and straightening
both these roads. The Grama Panchayth too could take an active interest in this
campaign and make it a success.
The vehicular traffic on the Kumbalam PWD main
road has increased drastically due to globalization and prosperity of the
Islanders. The twelve feet tarred width of the road is insufficient to cater to
the heavy traffic. It
is now necessary to have the entire
twenty feet width of the road tarred. This will help ease the traffic
congestion and avert accidents. The main reason attributed for the accidents is
due to the lack of wide tarred road. The pedestrians experience great
difficulty when huge buses and trucks ply on these roads. Some of the tipper
lorries are very rash and motor accidents are becoming common on the Island.
There have been cases where a few have succumbed to their injuries due to
accidents on these roads. Flooding of roads and inundation of road sides is
common after every heavy downpour. Providing side canals wherever required will
help solve this problem to a great extent. I once again implore to Prof. K.V.
Thomas M.P. to allot necessary MP funds to tar the entire twenty feet width of
Kumbalam PWD main road. In the process,
for the common good of the people, a few more winding curves and bottlenecked portions
on this road could also be looked into by acquiring the land. In this way we
could aspire to be a Model Village P W D Road!!
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