THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Public Works Department and Kerala Water Authority (KWA) will integrate their Project Information and Cost Estimation (PRICE) software systems to reduce the hassles of bureaucratic paperwork and streamline various developmental works, especially KWA’s pipe-laying projects that require inter-departmental coordination. The move is expected to speed up various developmental work in the state.
As a first step, the government has constituted a committee comprising senior officials of both departments. The committee has been entrusted with the task of preparing an action plan for integration of the systems of both departments.
Once integration is done, a joint team of PWD and KWA officers will inspect the site and the latter will prepare the estimation report. This report along with the request for road cutting will be submitted through the online platform.
A KWA official said the decision will ensure timely completion of projects. "Quite often the projects get stuck because of the rate charged by PWD for allowing us to dig roads. If the combined inspection becomes a norm, there won’t be much contention on it. By integrating the software systems, the rest of the procedures required for getting PWD nod can be completed fast. Since the officers can check the status of the projects online, there won’t be any undue lag in their completion," said the officer.