HERITAGE BRIDGE

HERITAGE BRIDGE

A.T. Philip, member of the Thenmala block panchayat, has petitioned the Railway Ministry to ensure that the 13-arch railway flyover near Thenmala be preserved during the gauge conversion work. “A view of the 108-year-old flyover is simply breathtaking.”Mr. Philip said that while concrete jacketing of the bridge was required for accommodating broad gauge trains, such work should not mar the existing beauty of the flyover which ran parallel to the Kollam-Thirumangalam National Highway.

He alleged that the concrete jacketing carried out on a bridge near Punalur as part of the gauge conversion was not only shoddy work but also spoiled the look of the colonial structure. If that is the kind of work which is going to be carried out on the flyover, it would invite protest.Mr. Philip said that the people living along Kerala portion of the Punalur-Schencotta section saw the flyover built by the British as a heritage structure which should be preserved.Thenmala being an important tourist destination of South Kerala, the flyover is a tourist attraction too. Not only the flyover, but even the railway station buildings at Thenmala, Edaman, and Aryankavu too are heritage structures. If they are redesigned to meet the gauge conversion standards, care should be taken to preserve the original beauty of these colonial structures too.Mr. Philip wanted the railway authorities to keep a defunct steam engine at the yard of the Thenmala railway station as a tourist attraction. For more than 75 years steam engines had rolled through the tracks of this section, he said.

Prof. John Kurakar