KOCHI: Left in darkness for nearly two years, the Container Road will soon be lit up, with the National Highways Authority of India(NHAI) announcing on Monday that streetlights along the stretch will be electrified within a month.
The development came following the commencement of the transformer installation work recently, which the agency had cited as the primary reason for the delay. “The installation of the transformer is in progress, and the contractor has said that the work will be completed within one month,” said a statement from the NHAI.
The 17-km stretch connects the city to the International Container Transshipment Terminal, Vallarpadam. Used extensively by container trucks ferrying cargo to and from the terminal, the road sees a daily traffic of close to 40,000 vehicles. The absence of functional streetlights had turned the stretch into a hazard zone after sundown.
Earlier, NHAI officials said that the power supply to these streetlights, numbering over 1,100 on the stretch, could not be provided due to differences with the KSEB over transformer requirements and costs.
“Initially, NHAI had received a demand note of Rs 18 lakh from KSEB to set up two transformers at Rs 9 lakh each. However, the latter revised it later to include four transformers for an estimated total cost of over Rs 1 crore,” said Kadamakudy panchayat president M S Antony.
“However, NHAI said there were no supporting documents or justifications on the part of KSEB to back what they called a preposterous estimate, and called for a considerable revision. Yet both agencies sat on it, waiting for the other to buckle.”
Earlier, the NHAI had agreed to install a new 100 kVA transformer and upgrade an existing transformer from 100 kVA to 160 kVA. But the KSEB said that this alone was not sufficient to meet the power needs of the region.
TNIE has learnt that without the additional two transformers, as proposed by KSEB, nearly 4,000 homes in the nearby panchayats were at risk of facing constant power disruptions.
However, following the intervention of the local leaders, including Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden, both NHAI and KSEB have now reached a consensus, and the transformer installation is progressing steadily, which comes as a relief for the panchayat residents and commuters.