Funds crunch has hit the World Bank (WB)-aided Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) Phase II with the upgrade of State Highways (SH) at a standstill in five of the nine corridors.
Work is on only on the Thalassery-Kalarode, Kalarode-Valavupara, Chengannur-Ettumanur, and Ettumanur-Muvattupuzha corridors, with contractors stopping works on the other corridors as no payments had been made after November, sources said.
The issue is reflected in the utilisation of loan as only 36% ($78.53 million) of the World Bank’s share of $216 million has been expended since May 2013. The bank will give 48% of the total ₹2,403-crore loan for Phase II and the State has to bear over 51%.
With just over 11 months for the deadline, apprehension prevails whether the State can avail itself of the rest of the WB loan and complete the upgrade of 367 km of the State highways.
The World Bank’s January 7 ‘implementation status & results report’ has rated the progress towards achievement of ‘project development objectives and overall implementation’ as “moderately unsatisfactory” and overall risk as “substantial”.
The 82.13-km Punalur-Ponkunnam road is yet to take off as the EPC mode and private-public partnership on design, build, finance, operate, maintain, and transfer mode under hybrid annuity basis did not succeed.
Thiruvalla bypass
Work on the 2.3-km Thiruvalla bypass, for which 63% of flyover work is over, has been suspended as the contractor’s demand for a hike in the estimate with the change in the design of flyover was not accepted. Now, authorities are thinking of re-tendering the works.
The 83-km safe corridor project from Kazhakuttam to Adoor along MC Road was awarded, but the road safety components to be taken up on the corridor are yet to be finalised.Since May 2013, as much as 78.80% of the works are over on the Kasaragod-Kanhangad (27.78 km) corridor and 80.5% works on the Pilathara-Pappinissery (20.90 km) corridor.
On the four corridors where the works are still on, the figures are: Thalassery- Kalarode (28.80 km, 31.25%), Kalarode-Valavupara (25.2 km, 38.65 %), Chengannur-Ettumanur (45.4 km, 90.1%), and Ettumanur-Muvattupuzha (40.96 km, 92.1%). The pace of the $22-million road safety component and the $8-million institutional component is not on the expected lines.
