Already at the receiving end because of the Ponnurunni overbridge works at the Vyttila end, people using the Palarivattom-Thammanam-Vyttila road have been put to further hardship, with work on laying water pipelines at the Palarivattom end progressing at a snail's pace.
The Kerala Water Authority (KWA) began digging the road from Palarivattom about a month ago, promising to complete the pipeline works in 45 days, said a PWD official.
The deadline will soon expire, but less than half the work is over. As a result, vehicles are being diverted through side roads and Pipeline Road at Samskara junction, where the KWA has banned heavy vehicles.
A worse fate awaits road users. The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) is waiting for the pipeline work to be over to begin laying underground cables. The KWA has not speeded up its works despite the Janakeeya Samrakshana Samithy and residents' associations taking up the issue. Neither have steps been taken to temporarily restore the dug-up portion.
This means traffic regulations will continue for another couple of months, throwing people's life into disarray.
The PWD (Roads) wing, which owns the road, had objected to the pipe-laying work since it was a road through which vehicles were diverted in connection with the metro rail's preliminary works.
“The KWA began digging the road armed with an order from the State government. This has in turn affected our plans to resurface 2 km of the 4-km-long Palarivattom-Vytilla Road at a cost of 1.50 crore,” said a PWD engineer. He expressed confidence that the agency would be able to resurface the dug up portion before the monsoon.
The replacement work of the concrete-primo water pipelines with DI (ductile iron) pipes would take about 40 more days, said a KWA official.
Pipelines of 700 mm width are being laid and the work needs to be completed before the rains.
The work on the 2-km stretch on the Thammanam Road from the Palarivattom end would go up to Thammanam junction.
The work on the first half a kilometre began over a month ago. The work is part of various projects under the KSUDP. The KWA's pipeline work is also suffering delays in Vypeen. Another work is on through Chilavannoor Road.
