500 concrete buildings will be demolished in Thiruvananthapuram

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As many as 500 concrete structures, including residential buildings, will be demolished fully or partially to facilitate the widening of Kesavadasapuram –Kazhakootam stretch.

The state government has sanctioned Rs 500 crore  for the long-pending widening work  of the stretch,  one of the major bottlenecks in the state capital.  However, according to PWD authorities, the project would prove very costly  for the government.

PWD NH division chief engineer K.P. Prabhakaran  told DC that Rs 500 crore would not  be enough to execute the project. He said that the alignment of the stretch had already been approved by the government.

“We will forward  the alignment sketch along with the request to the revenue department within two weeks. Later, we will demarcate the boundary lines on both sides of the stretch,” said Mr Prabhakaran. The authorities are planning to finish the land acquisition procedures within a  year.

He said that more allotments would be required. Land acquisition itself would cost around Rs 500 crore  or more. As per the new land acquisition Act, the governments should pay double the cost of the land to be acquired for development in urban areas,” said Mr Prabhakaran.

He said that around 250 concrete structures would have  be fully demolished to facilitate the project, which is crucial for the proposed light metro rail.  

The National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) had submitted the survey report on the widening project  in February  2013.

Following public protests,  the government asked the NATPAC to revise the report and reduce the width of the road from 30 metres to 24.  Subsequently, the NH PWD wing submitted the DPR for administrative sanction in November 2013.

“The cost of the civil work is likely to go up further and has to be revised as the 2015 schedule of rates,” said Mr Prabhakaran. The construction cost is  likely to  escalate   by 20 to 40 percent  when the project takes off.