1 week Ago By Shainu Mohan
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The controversial floating bridge at Varkala, which was shut down in March last year following an accident that injured around 15 people, including children, collapsed yet again in the rough waves on Friday at Papanasam beach in Thiruvananthapuram. On Friday morning, the floating bridge, which was being readied for safety inspections by a panel of experts, was destroyed by violent waves raising serious safety concerns and feasibility of the location. There has been widespread opposition against installation of the floating bridge in the exact same location where the previous accident happened.
With Varkala beach becoming non-feasible for the operations of the floating bridge, the tourism department is planning to shift it to Kovalam. Varkala MLA V Joy told TNIE that a decision on whether to operate the floating bridge or not will be taken after receiving the safety assessment report from NIT, Calicut. “Initially four different locations were identified for installing the floating bridge and one location has been ruled out after the floating bridge collapsed in the trial run and this was the second attempt to operate the floating bridge after the accident last year,” said V Joy.
He said that the operations of the floating bridge will not be allowed without ensuring its safety. An official with the tourism department said that the incident happened while the operator was trying to dismantle the floating bridge. “The operator had assembled the floating bridge ahead of a safety inspection by an expert committee.
There was a rough sea alert for Kerala coast on Thursday and the bridge was destroyed on Friday morning before they could dismantle and shift the bridge from the sea,” said the official.The new guidelines introduced by Kerala Adventure Tourism Promotion Society (KATPS) mandate the operation of floating bridges for a period of seven months from October to April when the weather is favourable.“Kovalam is one of the locations identified for operating a floating bridge and if the location at Papanasam is not feasible, we might shift its operation to Kovalam.
A decision on this will be taken at the ministerial level,” said an official source. In 2023, the efforts of the tourism department to operate a floating bridge at Adimalathura failed miserably after protests from fishermen and industry stakeholders. Subsequently, the floating bridge project was shifted to Varkala.
Confusion over location:Initially four different locations were identified for installing the floating bridgeOne location has been ruled out after the floating bridge collapsed in the trial run and this was the second attempt to operate the floating bridge after the accident last year, MLA V Joy saidAn official said the incident happened while the operator was trying to dismantle the floating bridgeKerala govt issues safety guidelines for floating bridges.
