National Highway Authority of India to build service road at Mulavukad
Agency gives into two-year-old demand of local residents.
Kochi: Giving into the two-year-long demand of residents of Mulavukad, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has finally agreed to construct a service road there all by itself. The agency has also decided to replace the Kerala State Construction Corporation Ltd from the works. Though the NHAI completed construction of the 17.2 km-long road connecting Kalamassery and the Internationa Container Trans-shipment Terminal in April 2015, Mulavukad residents strongly opposed its move to introduce toll demanding the agency to construct a service road there first. They feared that the residents would be cut off from the mainland.
After much persuasion, the NHAI agreed and entrusted the work to construct 2.6 km-long service road to the KSCCL, worth Rs 23-crore. The latter planned to do the project in multiple stages and subleased one portion. However, residents again opposed and asked the agency to construct the full service road in one go.
"The NHAI has submitted a letter conveying its willingness to construct a service road from Bolghatty to Kattathukkadavu parallel to the Container Terminal Road. The agency has said that it would directly construct the road by replacing pipe culverts with concrete ones in keeping with the public demand. The agency is also waiting for an approval from its headquarters for constructing the road in a single phase instead of multiple phases as was originally planned," said district collector K. Muhammed Y. Safirulla.
However, the development has left KSCCL in a catch-22 situation with the sub-contractor M.D. Mahffos threatening to move court against the cancellation of its contract. "I have availed of a bank loan of Rs 75 lakh for executing the project entailing a monthly repayment Rs 1.52 lakh. If KSCCL cancels the contract, I will definitely sue them," Mahffos said. In a recent meeting convened by the district collector, Kerala State Construction Corp had made it clear that in the event of cancellation of the contract, the NHAI should provide for the compensation, which was shot down by the latter stating it has no provision to pay except for the work done.