Kuthiran tunnel work to be completed by December

THRISSUR: The work on the Kuthiran tunnel resumed on Tuesday after the owners supplying vehicles and machines for the project ended their strike. The strike was in protest against the delay in payment for the past several months. The 1 km-long twin tunnels at Kuthiran on the Mannuthy-Wadakkanchery NH stretch, which was supposed to be completed by this month end was moving at a snail’s pace.  With the strike coming to an end, the company is hopeful of completing the work by December. The vehicle owners ended the eleven-day strike after the company officials agreed to pay the outstanding payments in two instalments. 

Over Rs 36 crore is due to the vehicle owners, who had rented vehicles including tippers, cranes and other heavy machineries for the work.MVS Krishnamraju of Pragathi Engineering, the sub-contractor of KMC for the tunnel work, said the cash flow from the consortium of banks funding the project had been affected for the past four months but his company was able to manage it all these while.

“We were able to convince our workers about the delay in the payment, but some of the suppliers and sub-contractors stopped  the supply.  The government is not funding the project fully. The KMC is raising money from the banks and it has to be repaid by collecting toll,” he said.