Neeleshwaram ROB works to begin in May: NHAI

The works on the long-awaited rail overbridge (ROB) at Pallikkare, near Neeleshwaram, is all set to commence in May, Nirmal Zade, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) Project Director, Kozhikode division, has said.

Having awarded the works tender to EKK Infrastructure Ltd firm in Ernakulam, the work on the 45-metre-wide ROB, arguably the first of its kind in the State, would most likely commence from May 13, Mr. Zade told The Hindu here on Friday.

The NHAI would not host any foundation-laying function to mark the formal commencement of the ₹64.44-crore, 780-metre-long project, he said. The absence of the ROB had resulted in frequent vehicular snarls on the busy National Highway for long.

“We have already completed the requisite formalities ahead of the start of the work,” Mr. Zade said. The NHAI had finalised the work tender and was hoping to start work by mid-April. But the task of ferrying the heavy duty construction equipment to the works site delayed the start of the work by another month, the senior NHAI official said.

Local political party leaders, who had formed an organising committee chaired by M. Rajagopalan, MLA, for the works, are reportedly insisting on hosting the foundation-laying ceremony and inviting State and Central Ministers for the same. However, the NHAI official made it clear that there would not be any such programmes to officially start the work.

As per the agreement, the bridge having two paralleled pathways of 20 metres width was being built as per the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) module, an arrangement in which the works contractor was responsible for activities like design, procurement, construction, commissioning and handing-over of the project to the end-user, P. Karunakaran, MP, told The Hindu in March.

Organising committee convener K.P. Jayarajan, who also holds mantle of the Neeleshwaram municipality, said the foundation-laying ceremony of the project would take place later and would be attended by Union Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gatkari.