Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram   

Work on Killipalam-Karamana stretch to be expedited

By S. Anil Radhakrishnan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Nov. 8. The widening of the busy Killipalam-Karamana stretch of the National Highway 47, which has been dragging for years due to a plethora of problems including the delay in the completion of the Karamana and Killipalam bridges, would be expedited by the PWD (NH).

``We have fixed a deadline for completing the work. The widened Killipalam-Karamana road and Karamana bridge is expected to be thrown open for traffic by March next'', a top official of the PWD (NH) said.

The work on the widening of the Killipalam-Karamana stretch, one of the major bottlenecks of the National Highway passing through the State capital, was delayed due to wrangles over land acquisition. The delay in removing overhead electric lines and transformers as well as relaying the lines of the KWA were the other problems.

Two transformers and three 11 KV tri-posts of the KSEB in the stretch were removed recently. The authorities have decided not to remove the 66 KV electric cable that is lying underneath the road in the stretch.

The PWD (NH) had provided Rs. 38 lakhs to the KSEB and Rs. 60 lakhs to the Kerala Water Authority to take up the shifting of the electric line/cable and the water and sewerage lines.

The PWD (NH) authorities have now fixed a deadline for the KWA to complete their work. The metalling from Karamana bridge to Karamana junction would be taken up soon, the official said.

The work on the new Karamana bridge being constructed across the Karamana river is going on at full steam. The four wells, one abutment and two piers has already been completed. The casting work on the three slabs for the bridge would begin soon, he said.

According to the official, half the work on the first leg of the Rs. 4.15 crores four-lane Killipalam bridge has been completed. The construction of the bridge is being taken up in two phases to ensure movement of vehicles along the NH 47.

Already, one of the two spans has been concretised. The existing old bridge through which vehicles move will be demolished and the second two-lane stretch of the bridge would be constructed in its place. The second stretch of the bridge will be taken up only after opening the first section for traffic.

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