KOCHI: Public Works Minister G Sudhakaran on Friday gave an undertaking that there will not be even a single damaged road in Kochi after September 30. He was speaking to reporters after inaugurating the Kannenghat-Willingdon Island bridge on Friday.Sudhakaran said directives have been issued to repair all the damaged roads in Kochi in view of the FIFA U-17 World Cup scheduled to begin next month. "The roads in Kochi will be repaired by giving 'VIP' consideration. So the 20 days' time allotted for completing the tender procedures has been slashed to three days. There is no shortage of funds for repairing roads. There will be no damaged road in Kochi after September 30," he said.
He said an amount of `1 crore has been released for repairing roads in three constituencies in the district. "If required, more funds will be allotted. In the last 16 months, the PWD had spent `16 crore for repairing roads in Ernakulam district," he said.Sudhakaran also took a dig at the professionalism of PWD officers. "The officers in the department lack professionalism. A change in the administrative policy is required to correct these officers. The government has always been kind towards government employees. But, mistakes on their part will not be tolerated," he said.
However, the minister appreciated the PWD Building Construction Wing for completing the work on the gallery at the Maharaja's College ground - one of the practice grounds for the World Cup - in a time-bound manner. He said the officers concerned will be rewarded for completing the work in time. Meanwhile, the minister flayed the Railways for not cooperating with the state government for repairing the Bailey Bridge at Ennathu. According to him, though a report on the bad condition of bridges in 600 places was submitted to the Railways, no action was taken.
He said the government would consider the construction of flyovers to curb traffic bottlenecks. He said engineering students passing out from colleges should come up with new technologies to solve traffic-related issues in the state.M Swaraj MLA, Mayor Soumini Jain, K V Thomas MP, Hibi Eden MLA, K J Maxi and officers with the various government departments in the district attended the function.
The opening of the Kannenghat-Willingdon Island bridge will help people coming from Alappuzha and Thiruvananthapuram reach western part of Kochi without touching Palluruthy and Thoppumpady. The bridge, constructed over Kumbalam lake, will help reduce the distance from Eda Kochi and Kumbalangi areas to Kochi city by around 8 km.