Rise to the occasion as FIFA is around, PWD officials told

Proactively repair roads linking match venues in 10 days, orders Minister

Treacherous terrain: The potholed stretch on Vyttila - Pettah road is a motorist’s nightmare.

KOCHI: “Public Works Department (PWD) officials must venture out of their offices and proactively supervise road resurfacing and repair works,” Minister for Public Works G. Sudhakaran has said.

Speaking to The Hindu after reviewing the city’s preparedness to host the Under-17 FIFA World Cup matches in October, he said some officials had permitted agencies like the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) to dig PWD roads without collecting restoration charges in advance.

“This led to difficulty in restoring several roads before the monsoon. They [officials] must also supervise road resurfacing and repair works so that contractors do a foolproof job,” he added.

Citing Thursday’s instance when a key PWD engineer did not have a list of PWD roads in the city, Mr. Sudhakaran warned that such things would not be tolerated as the World Cup matches were on the anvil. “I have instructed them [officials] to stick to the revised deadline of October end to complete all road-restoration works in the city.

They must prove that they are fit for the job by ensuring that roads that are repaired do not develop potholes for another year. Roads linking match venues and training grounds must be repaired in 10 days,” he said. The Minister called upon the KWA to adopt modern practices for laying pipelines using drilling technology, rather than depending on unqualified contractors who adopt archaic practices like digging tarred portion of roads. Pipelines must be laid beneath the earthen road shoulder, Mr. Sudhakaran said.

At the same time, he lauded the renovation works done by the PWD at three training venues in the city and in Fort Kochi. On its part, the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK) has been asked to repair the potholed Palarivattom flyover which was inaugurated just a year ago, he added.

A senior FIFA official said roads leading to match venues would have been in better condition had officials of the PWD and local bodies been proactive in using the ₹17.70 crore allotted for the purpose. On the slow pace of road-repair works in Kochi, a senior PWD official too blamed regional officials of the department for their “lethargic attitude”.

He added: “They must know that ‘there is a way if there is a will’. It is no use blaming the rains. Works like laying of paver blocks on the Vyttila-Kunnara Park stretch could have been completed even during rainy weather,” he said.