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Thursday, Sep 27, 2007
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Rain hinders road repair: Isaac

Special Correspondent

Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac has said that the roads in the State could have been restored to good condition by now, but for the continuing rain.

In a release here on Wednesday, he said only 1,134 of the 5,430 items of emergency road repair works sanctioned so far by the government could be completed. The remaining items of works could be taken up within two days of the rain relenting.

He said he was issuing the press release to remove certain wrong impressions the people might have received from media interpretations of the remarks the High Court made on the subject of road conditions on Tuesday.

The Chief Minister had convened a high-level meeting to discuss the road conditions on September 6. The government had sanctioned a sum of only Rs.89 crore till that date this financial year for road maintenance. The sanctioned amount went up to Rs.320 crore by September 11.

Technical clearance too was given immediately for the works thus given administrative sanction. The government had already finalised the tenders with respect to 90 per cent of these items of works.

Dr. Isaac reassured the public that the issues hindering the maintenance of Thrissur-Palakkad road would be sorted out immediately. This year’s monsoon was the last straw for this road. An important decision taken at the meeting convened by the Chief Minister was to start maintenance work on this road without waiting for the approval of the National Highway Authority of India . If needed, the requisite funds would be released from the State exchequer, he said.

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