Corporation shelter for vendors by October 29

KOCHI: With the dismantling of the second motor bay of the North rail overbridge (RoB) beginning on Monday, the Kochi Corporation is planning to speed up the construction of the temporary facilities to rehabilitate the vendors from under the bridge. The corporation is planning to shift the vendors before October 29 to the new shelter.The new facility will be constructed at the land owned by the corporation on the Paramara Road where the Mythri Auditorium once stood. The site was being used by the contractors who undertook the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development (KSUDP) project to store construction materials. However, as per the instruction of the KSUDP authorities, the construction materials were removed from the site  and now the work of the temporary facility is progressing.“We are planning to complete the work of the temporary facility before next Saturday. The Mayor has instructed us to complete it as early as possible,” said G Thadevoos, who undertook the contract for the construction of the shelter.He said a godown-like structure would be constructed to rehabilitate the vendors.“The temporary facility will have a length of 32 metres and width of 6 metres. Fifteen vendors will be shifted to the temporary facility. The structure will have a height of 3 metres. The partition will be done later,” he added.The vendors, who will be temporarily rehabilitated on the Paramara Road will be later shifted to the  shops that will be constructed under the Pulleppady RoB. The structure under the Pulleppady RoB will be an 8,066 sq-ft building. The Kerala Roads and Bridges Development Corporation (RBDCK) has already been awarded the tender for the work which is expected to be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 68 lakh.Though the RBDCK has instructed the contractor to complete the work within six months, the project is yet to take off as the corporation has not issued the building permit.Meanwhile, the corporation authorities said they were waiting for the state government’s nod to issue the building permit.