THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) will open the tender for the construction of the Karakulam bridge again this week after only one bidder had participated when the same was floated in April. The Karakulam bridge is part of the four-lane widening of the Vazhayila-Nedumangad stretch of the Thiruvananthapuram-Tenkasi interstate highway.
Sources close to KRFB said the tender is likely to be opened this Friday and would be finalised at the earliest so that the bridge’s construction could begin within two months. Once the tender is opened, there will be a technical and financial evaluation of the bid before it is finalised. The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) had already allotted a fund of Rs 4 crore for the bridge.
Tender for carriageway
The tender for the main carriageway would only be called after the completion of the land acquisition proceedings.
The widening of the 11.3-kilometre main carriageway will be done by dividing the stretch into three reaches. The tender will be called for each reach separately to hasten the project execution. The survey proceedings for the third phase of the stretch are progressing as of now. “The tender for the bridge will be finalised soon, and the construction could start afterwards. But the construction of the main road could only be started after completing the land acquisition. Once the revenue department hands over the land to us, we will float the tender and start the construction,” said Dinky Darley, chief engineer of the project management unit, KRFB.
A long-pending demand
The widening of the road at Vazhayila and Pazhakutty has been a long-pending demand, as this stretch will give good connectivity from the state capital to Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu, thereby connecting to NH 44, which is the North-South corridor. According to Land Acquisition Special Tahsildar Sheeja S, the land acquisition proceedings are progressing, and the 19(1) notification pertaining to awarding the compensation to the landowners will begin by this month’s end.
“Once the 19(1) notification is issued, we will also publish the compensation inquiry notice. Then we will submit the details of the acquisition to the district collector. After that, scrutiny will take place, and the cost will be decided. Then, the compensation will be disbursed to the land owners if there is no objection from them,” she said.
Earlier, the 11(1) notification (Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act) for the reach was completed. The hearing with the landowners was also completed. The land will be acquired based on the LARR rules of 2013. Earlier, a six-member committee was constituted to draw up a new alignment for the project.
The panel, which submitted its report based on the social impact assessment study to the state government, had put forth suggestions to ensure limited displacement of people during land acquisition. It also held discussions with landowners to allay their apprehensions over land acquisition.
The government had earlier sanctioned Rs 338.53 crore for the project. Of these, Rs 279.31 crore will be spent on road work and Rs 59.22 crore on land acquisition.
Construction in 2 months