Kerala High Court Nods To Construction Of Bailey Bridge Over Pampa River For Easy Transportation Amid Sabarimala Mandala Season

The Kerala High Court on Saturday sanctioned the expeditious construction of a Bailey bridge over river Pampa in lieu of the fast-approaching Sabarimala Mandalam season.

This comes after Njunangar Bridge, which was the ordinary route for vehicles near Pampa, was recently damaged.

The permission is granted as a temporary measure for easy transportation. 

A Division Bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and P.G Ajithkumar considered the submissions of the respondents before deciding that a Bailey Bridge was the only way to make sure that transportation could be made feasible in this route, particularly since the festive season was to begin in a couple of days.

The Central government informed the bench today that the Indian Army was ready to start constructing the Bailey Bridge at the said location. However, when other respondents raised concern over the estimated expense, the ASGI responded that that can only be estimated after a site inspection.

Special Government Pleader Nagaraj also submitted that the Bailey Bridge is a temporary step and that the Forest Department will permit the permanent construction thereafter if the requisite procedure was followed. 

The respondents were anxious about the expenditure since a bailey bridge construction often results in exorbitant costs, and there was no clarity yet as to who will bear this expenditure. While the Irrigation and Forest departments conceded that it should be borne by the State Disaster Management department, the State opined that the Travancore Devaswom Board should fund the same. 

This issue will be resolved after an approximate cost is fixed by the builders, the Court observed. Accordingly, the matter has been listed to be taken up on Monday.

The matter pertains to the urgent need to reconstruct the damaged Njunangar Bridge at Pampa before the Mandala Makaravillku Festival which is scheduled to begin on the 15th of this month. 

Pursuant to an earlier Court order, a temporary road had been constructed by the Irrigation Department to ensure the movement of heavy vehicles to the Sewage Treatment Plant and also to the Incinerator at Pampa during the upcoming festival.

However, torrential rain in the Pampa area resulted in a flash flood, causing the water level to rise. The newly constructed temporary road was completely washed away/destroyed in the incident. 

In these circumstances, it was found that considering such extreme weather conditions, the temporary road was likely to be damaged and the only alternative was to construct a Bailey Bridge across the Njunangar River at Pampa as a temporary measure. 

The Court was also informed that the Indian Military and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are equipped with the technical resources to construct a Bailey Bridge in the said location. 

Considering the urgency of the matter, the Bench decided to hold a special hearing on Saturday to evaluate the feasibility of this suggestion. 

Case Title: Suo Motu v. Travancore Devaswom Board