No further extension will be given to the contractor for the completion of the Alappuzha bypass project, Minister for Public Works G. Sudhakaran has said.
He was inaugurating the newly constructed first floor of the District Homeo Hospital here on Friday.
“The construction firm had sought an extension till September. We have given them time till August 31 to complete the project. If they failed to complete the work in time, the government will blacklist them,” Mr. Sudhakaran said.
The Minister said service roads would be constructed on both sides of the bypass. “Service roads are part of construction of any bypass. However, in the case of the Alappuzha bypapss, no fund has been set aside for constructing service roads. We will construct service roads on both sides even if it needs fund allocation from the State government,” he said.
Railways blamed
Mr. Sudhakaran blamed Indian Railways for the delay in completion of the project.
The bypass work, which got under way on April 10, 2015, was originally set to be completed in September 2017. However, the project got delayed on account of various reasons and the deadline was initially extended to May 28, 2018. Officials said that only about 85% of the project had been completed so far. The pending work includes construction of two rail overbridges at Malikamukku and Kuthirapanthy.
Meanwhile, a team of officials led by District Collector S. Suhas visited various places along the bypass and reviewed the progress of the project.