The ₹3.64-crore S.M. Street renovation project is likely to be completed by October end. To review the project progress, District Collector U.V. Jose on Friday held a meeting with the heads of various government departments.
At the meeting, Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) officials said the underground cable laying works for safe power supply had been fully completed in the area.
The remaining works to connect the cables with shops too could be completed within a short period of time, they said.
In the wake of complaints over the ill-lit street entrance, arrangements would be made to put up a medium mast lamp alongside the S.K. Pottekkatt’s bust. Additional street lights too would be considered to illuminate the murky corners of the street.
At the meeting, a decision was taken to strictly restrict the entry of vehicles to the project area as it was found damaging many of the partly completed works at the site. The stone-paved lane in certain stretches had been found broken with the careless entry of heavy vehicles to the spot.
Revenue Department officials said they would seek the support of the police to control the entry of all vehicles to the project area till the completion of the full civil works. The curb would be in force round-the-clock, they said. Tourism Department officials said all the time-consuming civil works had already been completed at the project site though the monsoon downpour had caused some interruptions. Construction of new drains was the biggest challenge as majority of the shops had surreptitiously connected their waste-water pipelines to public drains, they said.
