Kerala - Kochi   

Road repairs before monsoon

KOCHI: Pre-monsoon repair work will be carried out on the arterial roads in the city, Minister for Public Works Mons Joseph said.

Talking to The Hindu after a meeting here with the representatives of contractors and others to review the progress of major road and bridge works, he said that government contractors had withdrawn their strike in Kochi. The contractors had been boycotting tenders, alleging non-payment of dues for the works carried out during VVIP visits. Another grouse was that the State government was yet to revise the rates for labour and materials, despite the steep increase in corresponding market rates.

“We assured the contractors that their complaints will be taken up at the government level. The PWD Secretary is scheduled to meet his Finance counterpart on Wednesday to discuss these issues,” Mr Joseph said. He added that instructions had been given to PWD officials to speed up the pre-monsoon repair works. Contractors have been asked to mobilise more workers and materials to complete works before the rains.

Repair work on footpaths and drains along the M.G.Road will soon be carried out. Rs.45 lakh has been set apart for the purpose. The government has sanctioned Rs 41 lakh to repair ill-maintained roads and bridges along the Vytilla-Aroor national highway.

“The work will be completed in 10 days and special emphasis is being given to the Kundanoor junction. Repair work of the severely-potholed stretches of the Kundanoor-Thevara bridge will be carried out before the monsoon.

The re-tendering of the four-laning work of the stretch will be done on May 30,” he said.

The PWD had submitted a Rs.72-lakh project to the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for resurfacing the Kundanoor bridge.

Mr Joseph said that the PWD would soon submit a feasibility study on the four-laning of the Ernakulam North and South overbridges, the two major traffic bottlenecks in the city.

The District Collector will hold a meeting here on Friday to enhance coordination between different civic agencies in charge of road maintenance.

The Railways will finalise the tender for completing the rail portion of the Pullepady overbridge on Monday. The bridge will be ready in four months.

The Corporation Council has to decide on handing over Rs.8 crore needed to acquire land for the Thammanam-Pullepady Road. The undue delay in the sanctioning of the funds by the Centre for the Edapally overbridge too was discussed.

The National Highways Authority of India has not sanctioned funds for repairs of the Edapally-Vytilla NH bypass and its service roads, despite the PWD submitting a project for Rs.3.27 crore.

Mr Joseph said that he would hold discussions with senior officials of the Authority and the Union Surface Transport Minister in June to hasten the highway-development work.

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