THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Over 30 smart road projects in the capital, including MG Road, coming under the Smart City Mission are all set to be dropped replacing other infrastructure projects. A decision on this was taken on Tuesday during the Smart City Mission Board meeting, chaired by the chief secretary. All stakeholders, including the Corporation, Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) and Smart City Thiruvananthapuram Limited (SCTL) attended the meeting.
The meeting decided to continue those projects which are ongoing by re-tendering the work. However, the smart road projects which have yet to be started have to be dropped and the money earmarked for these projects should be spent on other projects which could be completed before the actual deadline of June 2023.
The meeting decided to continue work, including re-tendering 14 roads out of 23 road projects under the Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB), and 40 roads out of 67 road projects under the city corporation. The remaining projects which did not even start the preliminary work will be scrapped, sources said. The lack of efficient contractors and inordinate delays in implementing the projects are said to be the reasons for scrapping the projects.
Earlier, SCTL, the implementing agency of the project, had set aside `300 crore for the project, and this money is likely to be spent on new projects. Sources close to SCTL said new projects would be taken up so that they could be completed before the June 2023 deadline.
Corporation secretary Binu Francis said the civic body has put forth suggestions on projects that could be implemented before June next year. “We suggested several projects including replacing the neon lights with LED street lights, lights for NH 66 bypass and animal crematorium. However, we need to work it out by making a plan to ensure that the money earmarked will be sufficient for these projects. The ongoing smart road projects which come under the corporation and Kerala Road Fund Board will be continued, “ he said.
The smart road project under the Smart City Mission project had started in February last year. But, there was little progress due to the pandemic, shortage of labourers and frequent rain. The plan is to upgrade 40km of roads falling under the Area Based Development (ABD) of the corporation. All overhead utilities will be laid underground.