The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Rs.161 crore for road work: Mons

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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Rs.161 crore for road work: Mons

Special Correspondent

For post-monsoon repair, maintenance

Work to be over before December 31
Rs.140 crore to pay contractors’ arrears

Thiruvananthapuram: The Twelfth Finance Commission has earmarked Rs.161 crore to take up road work in the State, Minister for Public Works Mons Joseph said here on Thursday.

The assistance would be over and above the allocation from the Centre, he told reporters during a press conference.

Mr. Joseph said the outlay would be used for post-monsoon repair and maintenance of the road network and was expected to be completed by December 31.

Tender procedures

“The tender procedures and other formalities will be completed during the monsoon period. Executive Engineers had been asked to monitor the work,” he said.

He added that 80 per cent of the pre-monsoon repair had been completed.

The Minister said the Finance Department had decided to release Rs.140 crore as arrears to PWD contractors. Talks were on to revise the daily wages of labourers from Rs.140 to Rs.170, the Minister added.

Mr. Joseph said the Central government had convened a meeting in Kochi on June 21 to discuss the construction of a coastal highway in the State.

The Director of the National Highway Authority of India will participate in the meeting.

“On June 24, at a meeting convened by Union Minister for Surface Transport T.R. Baalu, Kerala will highlight the demand to expedite work on widening the National Highway and bypasses network in the State,” the Minister said.

The government, she said, would carry out a periodic review of the ongoing work on the Kerala State Transport Project.

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