Kazhakkoottam-Mukkola road widening work slows down

Thiruvananthapuram: After a group of environmentalists and politicians stalled procurement of red earth from Akkulam, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has started arranging raw materials from alternative sites for Kazhakkoottam-Mukkola road widening project. However, non-availability of enough raw materials and long distance transportation have badly affected the pace of the works.The highway authority has planned to complete majority of the works ahead of monsoon.
At present, NHAI procures raw materials from Vembayam, which is quite time consuming. "We used to get 90 loads of red earth per day from Akkulam. Now it has been reduced to 15 loads per day. This has slowed down the works," a source said.
The only work that has been progressing as per schedule is the construction of a bridge parallel to the existing Akkulam bridge. "Around 60% piling work has been completed. We have also started construction of pile cap. It is the responsibility of NHAI to facilitate the works. However, we are not getting enough support," said another source.
The procurement of red earth was stalled by a group of environmentalists led by architect G Shankar in March. Chief secretary P K Mohanty issued a stop memo, putting the contractors in crisis. The contractor - KNR Constructions - has already spent more than five months for works including utility shifting and cutting of trees.
The highway authority has completed tarring works on around 1.4 kms of the stretch.
The stretch was handed over to KNR Construction on June 12, last year. The Rs 669.06-crore project was to be completed in 24 months. It includes 2 major bridges, two ROBs, two vehicular underpasses and two overpasses. The first phase from Kazhakoottam-Mukkola is around 26.5 km.