The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Vytilla-Aroor four-laning work hits a roadblock

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Saturday, Sep 08, 2007
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Kerala - Kochi

Vytilla-Aroor four-laning work hits a roadblock

Staff Reporter

Contract with Gea-Mecon terminated; up to 40% escalation in cost feared

Photo: VipinChandran

Development woes: Confusion reigns at places where two-lane roads meet the widened portions on the Vytilla-Aroor stretch of the national highway. -

KOCHI: The four-laning of the congested Vytilla-Aroor stretch of the NH 47 will be over only by June 2009, about three years after completion of the deadline.

In May, the National Highways Authority of India terminated its contract with Gea-Mecon for the work on the 10-km stretch. Project director of the NHAI G. Sivaram Raju said that Gea-Mecon did not have the professional experience to carry out the work which had been awarded to them for Rs.80 crore.

At stake is the four-laning of five bridges spanning a total of around two kilometres. Not even half the bridge work is over.

He said the work would be re-tendered in a month and the new contractor would begin the work by December. Converting the two-lane roads into four-lane could be done by mid-2008. Widening the 900-metre Aroor bridge would take time and so the delay in throwing open the stretch.

“Gea-Mecon did works worth Rs.4 crore in the whole of 2006, something which it ought to have done in a month. There was huge delay in carrying out work on the five bridges on the stretch. The whole work should have been over by August 2006. We extended the deadline by three months, but it could not carry out the work. Its ineptitude might result in the cost going up by up to 40 per cent,” said Mr. Raju.

Sinking pillars

The NHAI cited its inability to repair the existing two-lane road.

The pillars supporting many of the bridges were sinking, causing huge gaps at the expansion joints.

This was resulting in traffic snarls all through the day on the busy road which provides crucial connectivity from northern districts to those down south.

“The expansion joints will have to be reinforced with concrete,” said Mr. Raju.

He added that Kundanoor Junction would be re-laid, once the rain subsided.

There was also urgent need to build flyovers at Kundanoor, Vytilla, Palarivattom and Edapally, on the NH bypass owned by the NHAI.

“The number of passenger car units (PCU) running on the stretch daily crossed 35,000 over two years ago.

“Even four-lane roads have the maximum carrying capacity of only 30,000 units. (PCU is a conversion based on speed of vehicles and area occupied by them. For a car, it is 1, two-wheeler 2, bus 3 and so on).”

There is bumper-to-bumper traffic during peak hours and it takes 40 minutes to an hour for covering the 10-km Vytilla-Aroor road.

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