KOCHI: The Public Works Department has banned the tarring, patchwork and digging up of the state’s roads and national highways from June 1 to August 15. Road work related to laying of cables and water pipes has also been banned during the period. According to Works Minister G Sudhakaran, this period can be utilised to invite and award tenders for the road works that are to be carried out.
The minister gave the direction in this regard to the PWD officers during a department-level meeting held at the Collectorate here to discuss pre-monsoon work that has to be carried out on roads and bridges.“Filling up of potholes and other repair works have to be carried out at the earliest. Steps have to be taken to prevent destruction of roads during monsoon. Derelict bridges — both big and small — that have been damaged by weeds are to be cleaned. Broken railings on these bridges also have to be fixed before the monsoon. Steps have to be taken to clean the drains to ensure smooth flow of rainwater,” he said.
Sudhakaran said nobody will be allowed to encroach on roads belonging to the PWD. “Strict action will be taken against the encroachers and steps will be taken to demolish existing encroachments,” he said.He said the projects envisaged for the development of NH might begin by November. “The government will work towards clearing people’s doubts regarding land acquisition for these projects. It will also consider viable demands in this regard,” Sudhakaran said. He said with regard to the construction of the coastal highway, the government will ensure the participation of Nabard to mitigate the delay associated with the dDepartment.
He said the aim is to complete all repair works so that by 2019, not a single road in the state will be unmotorable. He directed the officers to carry out re-evaluation and make changes to their method of doing repair works. The officials also have to take note and maintain a file of the damage caused to the roads.
“There are 3,000 bridges in the state and of these, 400 have to be renovated. Of the 400, as many as 162 bridges have to be rebuilt. Administrative sanction has been granted to rebuild 38 bridges. The construction of six bridges has already been completed,” he said.
According to Sudhakaran, the maintenance work on the government rest houses, which were in a pathetic condition, has been carried out.“The rest houses in cities have done a commendable job in carrying out the maintenance work. These rest houses are valued at crores of rupees. They have to be maintained properly. The LDF Government could upgrade the functioning of 80 per cent of the rest houses in the state,” he said.
The minister said some vested interests are trying to encroach on the land belonging to the rest houses. “The officers in charge of the rest houses need to be vigilant,” he said.
He directed the officers to do away with the unnecessary delays with regard to the work undertaken by the PWD.“The KSTP need to be more public-friendly. The department needs to conduct at least one seminar a to share information and discuss projects,” he said.