THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government will take a final decision this week on whether to extend the contract of Mumbai-based NA Construction Pvt Ltd for the smart road development in the capital or to float fresh tender for the modification of 40 roads.
A meeting is expected to be convened by the PWD secretary during which a review of the smart road work is also likely to be taken up.
Earlier, Smart City Thiruvananthapuram Limited (SCTL), the special purpose vehicle (SPV) for implementing the project, had forwarded the proposal of contract extension to the state government to take a final decision.
The government's decision comes following the proposal submitted by SCTL. Speaking to The New Indian Express, SCTL chief executive officer Vinay Goyal said the final call on contract extension or to float fresh bid will be taken in the meeting.
"The decision will be taken at the government level. However, a date is not fixed yet. We will discuss and finalise a date so as to ensure the timely completion of smart roads in the capital," he said. According to a top official of Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB), all the work related to Smart roads are stalled due to rain and is expected to resume once rain is over.
"Apart from extension of contract, we will also discuss the progress of the Smart road project in detail. We are trying our best to complete the project as per the present schedule. Once the rain stays away, we will resume the work at the earliest," the official said.
Many roadsides were dug up for making utility ducts as part of the construction of smart roads being built under KRFB. The public had to face difficulties due to this and the government had to face criticism. The corporation and ministers had openly expressed their dissatisfaction with the company. The utility ducts have been closed now to avoid flooding during monsoon.
The SCTL had earlier proposed to retain the services of the contractor for completing the work of 17 roads and invite bids for constructing the remaining 23 roads. The other option is to retain the contractor for the entire work.
The smart road work under the Smart City Mission project started in February last year but there was little progress due to pandemic, shortage of labourers and frequent rain.
The plan is to upgrade 40km of road falling under the Area Based Development (ABD) of the corporation. As part of the project, all overhead utilities will be laid underground. Dedicated cycle tracks, LED streetlights and footpaths are some of the attractive features of smart roads.