Smart road repair works resume on eight stretches after 5-month halt

Thiruvananthapuram: The Smart City Thiruvananthapuram Limited (SCTL) has managed to resume works under the smart road project on eight stretches, after the work had been halted for almost five months. The works to repair the roads in the festival zone around Attukal temple, which were dug up for the smart road works, will also begin on Friday.
The SCTL has found takers for works under the smart road project mainly on stretches in the Fort ward. The remaining works on two more roads under the smart road project near Taluk office and Kochar will also begin on Friday.
Even while the SCTL has managed to award a few works to contractors, nearly 30 works are still pending to be awarded under the project. At present the SCTL has notified tenders for 10 roads, and the Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) is awaiting tenders for four roads as part of the project.
The SCTL is working on a tight timeline as the works ought to be completed by March 2023. Roads inside the Fort area - Padma Nagar measuring 625 meter at Rs 2.9 crore, Kuriyathi road measuring 233 metre at Rs 1.33 crore, MRT road measuring 125 metre at Rs 1.66 crore - are included in the 10 roads for which tenders have been issued.
In November 2022, both the SCTL and KRFB had redesigned the works in small packages and issued tenders hoping that multiple contractors would take up the work and it could be executed simultaneously. However the SCTL still had to retender a few works as contractors showed scant interest in taking the work.
In 2020, 41 roads under the city corporation were entrusted with a single firm to be converted as smart roads.
While the period of completion was set as a year, the project ran into troubles. The corporation ruling council had come under scathing criticism for lack of proper management of the project.
As per the bid document, the work includes construction of main carriage way, kerb, depressed kerb, medians, raised pedestrian crossings, junction improvements, footpaths, construction of underground utility duct for accommodating electrical cables (LT), communication cables (OFC) and water pipelines.
Construction/modification of the junctions as per the design, provision of design features on the junctions such as table top crossing, kerbs as per turning radius as per the design, provision of tactile pavers in footpaths/pedestrian pathways have also been included.
It also points out that all parking lots shall be tied in properly with the kerb for clear demarcation. Provision of other features such as bollards, ramps for differently-abled, landscaping features, plantations with tree-guards etc, and maintenance of landscaping works (including watering, bush cutting, foliage trimming) are the other requirements.