Thursday 30 December 2010

Delay over improving city roads

Jisha Surya
First Published : 08 Dec 2010

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: December 31 is the deadline set by the Government to complete the Phase II works of the City Road Improvement Project (CRIP). Rain, land acquisition issues, lack of co-ordination between various departments and various other reasons lead one to a single conclusion - Phase II works are unlikely to meet the deadline.
 Project Engineer of Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) Sreekantan Nair said works on only 12 km of the remaining 28 km roads are likely to be completed under Phase II. A total of 42 km road is expected to be developed under CRIP, which includes an underpass and two flyovers.
 Around 14 km roads have been completed under Phase I. The entire  project is slated for completion by April 2011.
 According to Nair, works on MG Road (from LMS to Attakulangara) will be stopped at Overbridge owing to various obstacles. The list of obstacles includes the stalled work of Thakaraparambu flyover and land acquisition at Thampanoor, among others. KRBF, which is the facilitator responsible for removing the hurdles, however, is silent on the issue.  Junction improvement works at Sasthamangalam and road works at Kowdiar-Pattom, Kowdiar-Peroorkada-Vazhayila etc are progressing.
 Officials of the Thiruvananthapuram Road Development Company Limited (TRDCL), the concessionaire of the project, expressed confidence in completing some major road works, provided there is no rain. “Only 10 days is needed to complete the remaining works. The roads will be ready for commissioning if there is no rain for 10 days,” TRDCL vice-president Anil Kumar Pandala said.
 The Airport-MLA Hostel road is another major road which the KRBF officials claimed would be completed under Phase II. However, some of the major roadblocks are on this road. The shifting of two cemeteries and a dispute relating to a Railway Overbridge are some of the land acquisition problems troubling the authorities on this stretch. Final resurfacing works are remaining on some parts of this road.
 At Chackai bridge and at KIMS bridge in Anayara, the approach roads remain to be completed. Lack of co-ordination between various departments has hit the road works here.
 Work is progressing on the Panavila-Model School stretch, which was delayed following JICA-assisted water works.
 Currently, the authorities are busy carrying out patch works on some of the major roads in the city in connection with the upcoming International Film Festival of Kerala. Priority is being given to   completing this work, rather than meeting the deadline of CRIP Phase II.
jisha@expressbuzz.com

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