Residents plan road blockade on Sept 5

Thiruvananthapuram: Fed up with the inordinate delay in the execution of the second phase of Karamana-Kaliyikkavila

road

widening works, local people are gearing up for a road

blockade

on September 5. The road blockade has been planned at Pravachambalam under the aegis of Karamana-Kaliyikkavila action council.

Four months have passed since the project implementation unit (PIU) of Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) invited tender for the widening of the stretch from Pravachambalam to Kodinada. Interestingly, the tender was invited when the action council was planning a similar road blockade on the second anniversary of the inauguration of works to protest the delay.

Mannankal Ramachandran, action council general secretary (Nemom zone) said that the action council waited as tender process was going on. “However, after such a long delay, there is no clarity on the tender,” he said.

Vattiyurkkavu MLA K Muraleedharan will inaugurate the road blockade.

When the tender was invited, SreeDhanya constructions emerged as the single bidder. Following this, the PIU retendered the project. This time it got two bidders and SreeDhanya became the lowest bidder. According to sources, the tender was not finalized as it quoted an excess amount. Sources said a committee consists of representatives of KIIFB should take a final decision on the tender. The widening of around 5.5 km will cost around Rs 115 crore.

It is not just the delay in the tender that irks local people. The revenue department has not completed the land acquisition works for the remaining stretch from Kodinada to Vazhimukku. Also, the national highway wing of PWD must complete shifting of utilities from the site ahead of the road widening works. While NH is processing funds for utility shifting, the work could start only when they sign an agreement with the contractor.

Recently, the district administration has decided to allocate 3 cents each to 22 families living in the poramboke land in the old Rajapatha side of Pravachambalam. This was one of the major hurdles in the land acquisition in the area.