The PWD and Kochi Corporation have not made much headway in road repair works in the city and suburbs, despite rains taking a break during the past month.
“Scarcity of bitumen and inordinate delay by State government in paying dues to contractors has hit our plan to complete repair and resurfacing of battered roads by March end. Though we obtained four lorry loads of bitumen from BPCL during past two days, it is insufficient,” said a senior PWD engineer.
While bitumen shortage has held up repair works, contractors are demanding tender excess for black topping roads and paving concrete blocks.
This has further affected repair works since State government’s sanction is mandatory for granting the excess amounts demanded. Some of them are also deliberately going slow, since the Finance Department has not cleared their dues for the past 13 months, PWD sources said.
Black topping of select portions of Palarivattom-Kakkanad Road and Vyttila-Pettah Road are among the projects held up due to a combination of these factors.
The All Kerala Government Contractors’ Association had said that around Rs 200 crore worth road maintenance works in Ernakulam has come to a standstill due to bitumen shortage. Repair of roads through which vehicles are being diverted in connection with Kochi Metro works too has been hit.
Contractors are finding it tough to procure bitumen because of the norm that contractors (and not PWD) have to source bitumen for road works over Rs 5 lakh. This uncertainty and subsequent delay in obtaining bitumen will delay road works and also affect the quality of the gravel stored on the side of roads, said H. Mohammed, secretary of the association.
This apart, the price of cement is skyrocketing, affecting road, bridge and drain works. A packet of cement that cost Rs 330 in November increased to Rs 410 in December. This is because major cement manufacturers have formed a cartel and jacked up the price. They are making efforts to further increase the price.
The Centre and State must intervene in the issue and rein in cement manufacturers, Mr Mohammed demanded.
KWA blamed Both PWD and Kochi Corporation blamed the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) for delay in restoring roads dug up for pipeline works. “We recently resurfaced Chilavanoor Road with five-year guarantee for Rs 1 crore. But the KWA dug it up at frequent intervals,” said Soumini Jain, Chairperson of Corporation’s Works Standing Committee. The KSEB and telecom players are no better. Local-level feedback on condition of roads too is important. Apart from corporation’s regional officials, councillors and residents’ associations must ensure proper repair works. They must also inform the civic body of urgent repair works, she said.
Ms Jain added that a section of unscrupulous contractors managed to corner contracts for road repairs, even if they had been blacklisted for shabby work. “They participate in the bid in the name of their family member or friend and we cannot prevent this.”
She promised that every effort would be made to complete repair works by March.
