THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: This time, it is quite different from the usual pre-monsoon pothole-filling exercise that gets washed off in rain. The massive project taken up by the PWD to revamp roads under the City Corporation is progressing in full swing. Of the 242 roads under the 100 wards of the City Corporation, the PWD has already completed renovation of 50 roads. Hopefully, the remaining works will be completed within 2-3 weeks.
The State Government has allotted Rs 157.96 crore to the PWD for the renovation of city roads in the State. Of this, Rs 42.48 crore has been earmarked for roads under the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.
The PWD is executing renovation works of various stretches simultaneously. “We have completed the work of more than 50 roads. We hope that the remaining works would be over in 2-3 weeks, much ahead of the monsoon,” said T K Jayakumar, PWD Executive Engineer in charge of the works.
The 242 roads were divided into 123 works. Of these, more than 60 works have been completed. Roads 3.75 metres wide are undergoing renovation. Corporation roads having links to major roads are being repaired. The PWD is also constructing drains on some stretches.
The roads are in the Assembly constituencies of Thiruvananthapuram, Vattiyoorkavu, Nemom, Kazhakkoottam and Kovalam. The PWD had held meetings with councillors and MLAs before taking up the works.
This is for the first time that the PWD is renovating Corporation roads using Department funds. The works were inaugurated by PWD Minister V K Ebrahim Kunju in January. March-end was then fixed as the deadline for the completion of works.