THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The proposed white-topped smart road from Althara to Attakulangara under the Smart City Mission project is likely to be re-designed as a normal black-topped smart road due to the requirement of huge machinery and a large number of labourers. A source close to Smart City Thiruvananthapuram Limited (SCTL) said the decision in this regard would be taken this week as the single bidder who participated in the last tender quoted 40% higher than the bid amount.
The bid, which is under consideration by the state government, is likely to be rejected. The SCTL will also re-tender the project, the source said.
“Earlier, the road was envisaged as a white-topped road with concrete pavement on the top. However, it necessitates a significant amount of time and money. Due to this, bidders are quoting huge amounts. So, we are planning to change it to a normal road, which will be laid with bitumen on top, with other features of a smart road included. However, we are not dropping the project as it is only the main smart road project in the capital,” said an official of SCTL.
The tender for the project was opened by the Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) three weeks ago, but only one company, Sree Dhanya Constructions Limited, participated in the process. However, its quoted amount is 40% higher than the bid amount, leading to the tender being under consideration by the state government.
A source close to KRFB suggests that the government may decide to re-tender the project due to the high quote. Nevertheless, negotiations with the contractor are ongoing to finalise the amount. If the government is unsatisfied with the negotiations, the project may be retendered, thereby delaying its implementation.
Even if the government approves the project, the onset of the monsoon season poses an additional challenge for starting the construction work. The original deadline for completing the Althara-Attakulangara stretch was in June. However, the contractor failed to meet the deadline, leading to the cancellation of the contract by KRFB.
A fresh tender was recently initiated to expedite the project. The development of the Althara-Attakulangara road will be carried out in two phases. In the first phase, the stretch from Althara junction to Thycaud overbridge near the Government Hospital for Women and Children will be made ‘smart.’ The second phase will include the development of the road from Thycaud to Attakulangara.