At a crossroad in Thiruvananthapuram

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: World-class roads with streamlined traffic. That makes the capital city unique compared to other cities in the state. Thanks to the City Road Improvement Project (CRIP) initiated under the Thiruvananthapuram Road Development Company Ltd (TRDCL) which developed and maintained 42-kilometre stretches in the city over the past decade.  

However, the state government is likely to replace TRDCL as it allegedly failed to complete necessary maintenance work on the developed roads at various parts in the city. Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) is the nodal agency of CRIP.  Last month, PWD served notice on TRDCL regarding lapses in work completion. 

The notice made it clear that works under the CRIP would be handed over to the KRFB if TRDCL failed its duty.

Sources cite crises in the parent company, IL & FS, could be the reason to the delay in completing work. Launched in 2005, CRIP had entered into an agreement with TRDCL to construct and maintain roads for 30 years. This resulted in the government seeking legal advice to replace the company. As per the agreement, the TRDCL is responsible to look after the maintenance of 42 -km roads from 2022 to 2030. Hence, the government may need to pay hefty compensation to TRDCL once the agreement is terminated. 

Nevertheless, Anil Kumar Pandala, former TRDCL vice-president said the government could not 'terminate' the agreement with the company as it comprises conditions to entrust TRDCL for a period of 30 years. He also said TRDCL could not take up maintenance work in the city due to non-payment of annuity fund from the government. 

"The government was supposed to pay a sum of C26 crore to TRDCL on an annuity basis over the past one-and-half years which hasn't been paid yet. Along with it, the government had failed to pay C9 crore in the last decade. We did correspond with the government about the shortage of funds for the maintenance works. Yet, the government did not pay heed and blamed the company. We transformed the entire city with good roads and traffic islands. But how can a company continue working without funds?," said Pandala. Meanwhile, TRDCL carried out repair and maintenance works after a loan from IL & FS.

Pandala also said IL & FS debt crisis has not affected TRDCL as it is a separate company. "TRDCL and IL & FS are two companies. In fact, TRDCL is a special purpose vehicle formed with a public-private partnership model. So the company won't be in crisis anymore," he said. 

He added that the government had neither completed the 'Dispute Resolution Mechanism' in the agreement nor complied with many clauses in the agreement. Earlier, the government’s laxity in releasing Rs 19 crore of the arbitration amount of Rs 124.947 crore has put the concessionaire, TRDCL  in a fix. As a result, the work remaining on the second and third phases of CRIP had come to a halt several times. 

According to KRFB officers, they had sent repeated reminders to TRDCL over the delay in completing the works at major junctions in the city. "In fact, TRDCL has not responded to our correspondence. We had also warned the company about their failure to complete the work on time. The company has also not repaired the roads KRFB had demanded to repair on time," a top KRFB officer said.