THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Motorists and daily commuters from the southern fringes of the district will have to wait for a bit longer to enjoy the reconstructed National Highway since the tender proceedings for the construction of the five-kilometre stretch from Pravachambalam to Kodinada in Balaramapuram is likely to get delayed. Reason: The uncertainty over rehabilitating 23 families residing at Pravachambalam and a petition submitted in the High Court by a landowner at Kodinada in Balaramapuram challenging land acquisition by the government.
The stretch from Pravachambalam to Kodinada has been included in the second phase development of Karamana-Kaliyikkavaila road. The 1.5 kilometre stretch from Kodinanda to Vazhimukku will be developed at a later stage due to land acquisition issues at Balaramapuram town. The first phase of the project from Karamana to Pravachambalam was commissioned on March 1, 2016. According to PWD sources, the government will be fighting the petition and is doing its best to speed up the land acquisition proceedings at Prabachambalam.
The project will get the Technical Sanction (TS ) on Tuesday. A committee will be convened led by PWD (NH) chief engineer P G Suresh. Sources said the final decision on the tender will be taken on Tuesday. “The District Collector has already taken up this issue and it will be addressed at the earliest. At Pravachambalam, 23 families are residing on puramboke land along the old Rajapatha (royal corridor) and we have to rehabilitate them to a suitable location. This is proving to be a major hurdle. Another hurdle is a petition filed by a landowner at Balaramapuram. However, we have taken steps to challenge the petition,” a top PWD officer said.
Sources said the government has already identified three cents of land near the location to rehabilitate the 23 families. Earlier, the project faced a delay since the latest traffic data of the five-kilometre stretch had to be included in the DPR to mobilise the fund from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Board (KIIFB). The DPR was submitted in January.
KIIFB is the nodal agency which has been entrusted with the responsibility of mobilising funds for the development of the stretch from Pravachambalam to Vazhimukku.Meanwhile, the action council for the Karamana-Kaliyikkavila development slammed the government for not initiating steps needed to complete the project.“Land acquisition till Kodinanda had been completed months ago. The landowners have also completed the demolition of the buildings till Kodinada in Balaramapuram. The government is deliberately delaying the project,” said an action council member. Another issue hindering the road development at Balaramapuram Junction is the need to redesign the earlier plan. In the former plan, an underpass had been proposed at the junction.
Road to perdition
C114 cr the total cost of the project C266.67 cr
has been handed over to the Revenue Department for land acquisition in the Pravachambalam-Balaramapuram stretch C122.46 cr has already been disbursed
2.069
hectares of land is being acquired to widen the 1.5 km stretch from Balaramapuram to Vazhimukku