Kochi: Despite receiving the state government's green signal nearly six months ago, the ambitious Thammanam-Pullepady four-lane road project remains gridlocked in bureaucratic red tape. Designed as a vital four-kilometer east-west arterial corridor providing the shortest route from the city's heart (MG Road) to NH 66 bypass, the project was conceived back in 2004 to decongest Kochi's heavily choked lifelines.
Land Acquisition Delays Persist
“The project continues to face persistent delays in land acquisition. I have raised a formal submission in the state assembly, and the matter will be taken up for discussion on Monday. The project's stagnation will be brought to the direct attention of the new government,” Ernakulam MLA T J Vinod told TOI.
The current delay is particularly frustrating for locals given the progress made late last year. Following a grueling two-decade wait, the revenue department issued an official notification approving the project's social impact assessment (SIA) on December 24, 2025. A week later, the government also issued an order authorizing the Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) to initiate acquisition of 3.92 hectares spanning four key villages in Kanayannur taluk: Poonithura, Elamkulam, and Edappally South. Plans also included widening the bottlenecked Pullepady bridge to ensure seamless traffic flow.
Official Processes Yet to Commence
“The revenue department is yet to issue the 11(1) notification. A delay has occurred from their side. The district collector has now provided surveyors to the department to speed up the process of collecting details and verification of area and survey numbers. Once the same is issued, the main survey and compensation amount determination will be done,” said a senior KRFB official.
Authorities expect the 11(1) notification to be out in two months and another year for the 19(1) notification, when compensation amounts can be distributed to landowners and actual acquisition of land begins.
“All other processes, like SIA, have been completed. But not an inch of land has been additionally acquired in the past six months. Now the section of land in Kathrikadavu-Pullepady remains to be acquired,” rued P Jayashankar, a landowner.
Irony of Voluntary Surrender
Ironically, the bottleneck stems from government apathy rather than resistance from the public. Over the past 20 years, 84 landowners in Ernakulam and Poonithura villages have voluntarily surrendered 163 acres for the project, in addition to 54 acres acquired from 45 landowners.
Ramesh Mathew, a local landowner, surrendered 1.5 cents of his property back in 2004. Believing the acquisition was active, he stopped paying land tax on that portion for 20 years. “Now I have been informed that the land had merely been earmarked, with formal acquisition yet to even begin,” he said.
