THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Putting an end to uncertainty, the development of smart roads under the Smart City Mission project is set to resume this week with the Smart City Thiruvananthapuram Ltd (SCTL), the Special Purpose Vehicle for the project, deciding to invite bids for completing the remainder of the work in the capital city. The decision was taken at a meeting of stakeholders on Tuesday.
The Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) is the implementing agency and priority will be given to refurbishing roads, which were damaged after the previous contractor dug them up for laying utility ducts. A source close to SCTL said the first road to be renovated will be the Manaveeyam Road and that the work will be carried out in a phased manner. The Althara-Vazhuthacaud-Thycaud-Killipalam-Attakulangara Road will be taken up in the second phase, as the work is a major smart road work in the city.
Earlier, the SCTL could not complete the road work as the contract was cancelled by the SCTL due to a delay in completing the work. The Manaveeyam Road, the cultural corridor of the capital city, was opened to the public without completing the work and it drew sharp criticism.
“The meeting decided to invite bids this week to ensure speedy completion of all the smart roads that were stalled due to the delay on the part of previous contractors. The priority will be to renovate the roads that were damaged during the construction. We have decided to repackage the projects, and the entire work will be completed on time,” said an official.
KRFB is entrusted with the task of converting 13 roads into smart roads. Among the 13 roads, the Althara-Attakulangara Road will be white-topped, and it will be the longest smart road in the capital. The other roads are mostly pocket roads, including Manaveeyam Road and Kalabhavan Mani Road. In the first phase, the work on eight roads will be completed, while the remaining five, which are smaller roads, will be completed before April 2023. The deadline for the Smart City projects is April 2023.
Three months ago, horizontal directional drilling (HDD)-- a method of laying underground pipelines, cables, and service conduit through a trenching-free method -- began as part of the preliminary work. However, the work stopped again due to the onset of the northeast monsoon. Since the rain is staying away, the bids would be invited and the construction could be started by December-end. A KRFB official said that the ideal time for construction is from December to April. “So we expect to complete the work by next April itself,” the official added.
A combination of factors, including manpower shortage, inclement weather and the pandemic’s fallout had slowed down the work, which led to a major loss of face for both the civic body and the government. Under the area-based development envisaged by the corporation, all the overhead utilities on 40 km of road will be laid underground. Besides, the smart roads will have dedicated cycle tracks, LED streetlights and footpaths.