Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Leaders in the dark about project

The City Roads Improvement Project, which involves the reconstruction of 44 km of roads, is facing a leadership crisis.

The fact was evident last week during a meeting convened by District Collector N. Ayyappan to discuss the damage caused by the road works to the avenue trees on the Museum- Kowdiar route.

Law Minister M. Vijayakumar who represents the Thiruvananthapuram North constituency brought up the issue. "As a Minister and an MLA, I have no idea of what this project means, its objectives or management," he said.

MLAs V. Sivankutty and V. Surendran Pillai, Mayor C. Jayan Babu and the Collector also admitted they too were in the dark about the project. Middle-level Public Works Department officials and project managers present at the meeting were at a loss to explain how their higher-ups failed to brief the people's representatives.

They had to face the collective ire of environmental activists, MLAs and officials from other departments for the damage caused to the trees.

T. Nandakumar

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