LDF govt put project on track, Centre helped: Min

Kollam: While LDF and UDF differ over the realization of Kollam bypass project, PWD minister G Sudhakaran acknowledged the cooperation and support of Centre in completing several road projects in state including bypasses, flyovers and tunnels, the works of which are under progress.
Even while claiming that the work of Kollam bypass was put on the right track by LDF government, Sudhakaran said 50% of the expenditure was born by the Centre. In a statement, he said Kollam bypass was the 10th project that was completed with central help after LDF government assumed office. Alappuzha bypass will open in May. Nine other bypass roads, flyover and tunnel projects are at different stages of construction. Sudhakaran said Union ministries of finance ministry and surface transport had joined hands with the state government to complete these projects.

KIIFB also allocated funds outside the state budget for works. Of the nine KSTP-sponsored projects with an outlay of Rs 4,000 crore, five are ready. He said Centre’s assistance and fund allocation – through central road fund board and Nabard during LDF tenure – for road projects was the highest in state’s history. He said Union minister Nitin Gadkari had laid the foundation stone for Kollam bypass.

“When the Prime Minister expressed his wish to inaugurate the bypass, the chief minister welcomed the move. I hope Centre will appreciate state’s magnanimous gesture. The effective intervention and proactive approaches of the LDF government helped complete Kollam project, though it took an additional 14 months,” said Sudhakaran, adding that only 30% of the work was done during the previous UDF regime.

The design and work of the project, which starts at Kavanad and ends at Mevaram, was fully done by PWD with 50% financial assistance form Centre. The agreement for the long-pending bypass was signed in 2015 and two deadline extensions were given to the contractor after the project faced delays due to shortage of raw materials. As per revised estimates, the total cost of the project is Rs 352 crore.

Of the 46 piers of the bypass, only nine were completed during the UDF government’s tenure. If works progressed at that pace, it would have taken another five years. But, we finished it in two-and-a-half years, said Sudhakaran