THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It has been eight months since the development work as part of Swadesh Darshan scheme started on the West Fort-Vettimurichakotta stretch near Sree Padmanabhaswami temple. Commuters and residents have to wait for another two months to have hassle-free travel on the stretch.
Officers of the Steel Industries Kerala (SILK), the implementing agency, said that the works which were halted in view of Onam rush would resume on Monday. The revised estimate for the project following some unforeseen works will be approved by the Tourism Department shortly and the works are to be completed in 60 days, they said.
Meanwhile, local residents and political parties are planning to intensify their protest against the delay in the completion of work. They cited poor coordination between departments and lack of planning for the situation.
The development works on the roads around the temple include the construction of multi-purpose ducts on either side, re-tarring and beautifying the footpaths. The ducts are for laying KSEB lines and drinking water pipes.
“The unforeseen works, which led to the revision of estimate, were reconstruction of compound walls and sewage channels damaged during the construction of the seven-foot deep ducts. It is sad that the officers did not anticipate these,” said Ashok Kumar G P, BJP Fort area secretary.
“Construction dust is causing health problems to residents and traders on the stretch. Some residents have to walk over wooden logs to cross the trench and enter their houses. We the local residents had asked the temple authorities to halt the works during Onam,” he added.
According to SILK, the major reason for the estimate revision was the increased number of man-days required for digging the trench. “Machines could not be used for digging as there are KSEB high-tension lines and water pipes. Manual digging took more days than expected and hence the cost escalated,” said an officer.
It is learnt that the Sree Padmanabhaswami temple management has asked SILK to submit an approval certificate from the PWD for the works executed so far. SILK officers said they would start the work of the Rajadhani Road after the completion of the West Fort-Vettimurichakotta stretch.