A sum of Rs.72.77 crore has been allocated for the repair works of roads damaged by rain in the district, Minister for Public Works V.K. Ibrahim Kunju has said.
He was talking to media persons on Friday after an evaluation meeting with the MLAs about the progress of the road repair works at the PWD Rest House here.
Mr. Kunju, who maintained that an estimated stretch of 979 kilometres of roads was damaged during the monsoon this season, said the repair work of nearly 75 per cent of these roads had already been completed.
Roads were destroyed also as part of different works undertaken by agencies such as BSNL, Electricity Board, and the Water Authority.
“We are planning to bring in strict restrictions on agencies other than the KWA for digging roads for different purposes in the future,” he said.
Stating that the repair works had made nearly 40 kms of different National Highways in the district motorable, the Minister said contract had already been handed over for the renovation work of NH 66 from Vadakara-Ayanikkad to Nandi near Koyilandy.
The Minister said the repair work on the Thondayadu bypass from Thondayadu to Pantheerankavu would also start shortly.
Reiterating the earlier decision of the government to make it binding on the part of the contractor to repair a road free of cost if it got damaged within a time of one year o construction, Mr. Kunju said those contractors who failed to do so would be blacklisted by the government.
“The engineers concerned will also be answerable for such a failure,” he said.
Social Welfare Minister and Kozhikode South MLA M.K. Muneer and other MLAs from the district including C. Moyinkutty, C.K. Nanu, A. Pradeepkumar, K.K. Lathika, V.M. Ummar, Purushan Kadalundy, P.T.A. Rahim, PWD Principal Secretary T.O. Sooraj and Executive Engineer Sasi Kumar attended the meeting.
