THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The deadlock over the JICA-aided water supply works is taking its toll on the City Road Improvement Project (CRIP) too. Authorities behind road development in the city view the impasse over the JICA-aided water supply scheme as a ploy to sabotage the Thakaraparambu flyover work. Unless or until the new JICA pipes are laid, the CRIP authorities will not be able to take up the piling works for the flyover.
The presence of the main pipeline along the stretch has been delaying the road works indefinitely. Fearing destruction of the pipeline, the CRIP authorities have not taken up the piling work. They were hoping that the JICA authorities would lay new pipes, so that the old ones would become defunct.
The announcement of Larsen & Turbo Limited to quit from the JICA contract has given a jolt to the CRIP authorities. The JICA-aided water supply work, which is getting delayed indefinitely, has severely affected the plans of CRIP to take up works of the Thakaraparambu flyover. Also, the road works at Manorama-Thampanoor have been delayed due to the dilly-dallying of the JICA authorities.
“They have totally wasted the dry months, from December to February, when road works could have been completed without any hurdles. Had the JICA authorities handed over the land to us, we could have completed the road works in a month,” said a senior CRIP official.
Trivial issues are delaying the JICA project, believe the CRIP authorities. The Kerala Water Authority (KWA) could have easily removed the hurdles. Both the Government and the KWA did nothing to facilitate the works. Even the plea of JICA authorities for traffic regulation was not accepted.
Presence of a transformer has been delaying the work at Aristo Junction for the past three years. Nothing has been done to remove the transformer from the place, said a CRIP official.
Several issues, from rehabilitation of traders to removal of pipes, have come up in the way of the proposed Thakaraparambu flyover. The CRIP works along the Panavila-Thampanoor stretch were delayed for 6-7 months solely because of the JICA-aided water works.
The CRIP officials also flayed L&T’s decision to quit.
trivandrum@expressbuzz.com