Thiruvananthapuram: Finance minister T.M. Thomas Isaac’s Budget has come out with designer roads as part of ‘Rebuild Kerala’ where it will be built with the latest technology.
The post flood reconstruction aims to use modern technology for construction of roads with the requirements such as transportation, safety, amenities for pedestrians, drainage and long term maintenance, strictly adhering to the standards of Indian Road Congress.
The appearance of the road network in Kerala will be changed by the next two years. In the last three years Bituminous Macadam (BM) and Bituminous Concrete (BC) roads for a length of 1,601 km and ordinary roads for a length of 2,516 km have been constructed as on December 2018.
Construction of 6,000 km road will also be completed in the next two years. It will be a turning point not only in terms of length but also in the quality of roads.
“Rs 1,367 crore is earmarked for Public Works Department. In fact, a larger amount has to be spent from the exchequer for this. For example, in the last two years an amount of Rs 2,770 crore has been earmarked for the PWD, whereas the amount spent was Rs 5,388 crore. In spite of this, there are arrears in payments to contractors. This problem could only be resolved when the revenue deficit in the state budget is considerably reduced,” said Dr Isaac in his Budget speech.
The roads, bridges and buildings which were given administrative sanction based in the previous years’ budgets, worth Rs 10,000 crore, are in different stages of construction. Rs 11,000 crore worth work approved and funded by Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) are in various stages of tendering and construction.
“Proposals on construction works around Rs 2,500 crore, including proposals submitted by MLAs have been included in Budget by giving 20 per cent provision. Token provision has been included in the Budget for the remaining proposals. Rs 510 crore is earmarked for Kerala State Transport Projects.
There is good news for people of Wayanad where Thomas Isaac has promised that half of the expected cost of Rs 450–500 crore for Wayanad-Bandipur Elevated Highway will be borne by the State Government. The works of Chengannur bypass, widening of the Attingal City road, and the flyover at the Shencotta Junction in Kollam bypass will also be undertaken.
