Actress Anna Ben has penned an open letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan highlighting the problems faced by the people of Vypin who travel daily to Kochi for work.

A Vypin native, Anna said private busses from all the parts of Ernakulam district have access to the city while buses from Vypin cannot enter major destinations. She has mentioned the common people of Vypin who have been protesting against this neglect for the past 18 years.

Here is Anna’s letter:

An open letter to our Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sir,

When our ancestors didn’t dream of having a bridge that would connect Vypin to the mainland, it was the great visionary Sahoradaran Ayyappan who sowed the seeds of such a dream in our hearts.

It’s been 18 years since the Goshree bridges were inaugurated. We hoped that we would be saved from the risky rides through the treacherous estuary and get access to various places in Kochi city. The bridge came and the buses too began operations. However, the people of Vypinkara still aren’t allowed easy access to the city. We have to get down at the High Court junction and walk to the next junction to take another bus to our destinations.

I had suffered this difficulty while I was a student at St Theresa’s College. Private buses from all parts of the district have access to various places in the city. However, buses from Vypinkara are denied entry into the city. Most people, especially hundreds of women who work in various textile shops in the city for meagre income, cannot afford the additional expenses of taking another bus to their destinations. The people of Vypin have been staging protests for the last 18 years to invite attention to our plight.

NATPAC had submitted a report on whether buses from Vypin should be allowed to enter the city.

I have learned that the report offers favourable observations to our cause. Besides, the report says that the number of private cars and two-wheelers from Vypin would be reduced significantly if buses are allowed into Kochi.

This would ease the traffic blocks in the city. Despite this, the pleas of Vypin are ignored. We hope that someone as dedicated as you would easily overcome the legal troubles raised by some selfish people and bureaucrats and help us achieve one of the greatest dreams of Vypin.

Yours faithfully,

Anna Ben

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