Work on 4 Sabarimala roads to begin by month end

SABARIMALA: The work on the Rs 58.45-crore Sabarimala roads under heavy maintenance scheme will begin by the end of this month. The financial bidding and pre-qualification tendering were opened on January 3 and the process for awarding the contract for the lowest bidder is in the final stages, PWD sources said. The projects under the heavy maintenance scheme would include four roads and the Kanamala bridge across Pampa river, sources said. The four roads under the scheme were Mannarakulanji-Plappally, Plappally-Chalakayam, Kanamala-Elavunkal and Kanjirappally-Kanamala, they said. The estimated cost of the 32-km Mannarakulanji-Plappally road would be Rs 21 crore, the 21.5-km Plappally-Chalakayam road at a cost of Rs 14.1 crore, the cost of 9.9-km Kanamala-Elavunkal road would be Rs 8.6 crore and the 11.8-km Kanjirappally-Erumely road is estimated to cost Rs 7.75 crore, the sources said. The estimated cost of the Kanamala bridge would be Rs 7 crore. The PWD already paid Rs 6.36 lakh for the 0.54 hectares of forest land required for the construction of the bridge, the sources said. Once the land is handed over to the PWD, the work on the bridge would begin and will be completed in six months, sources said. The norms under the heavy maintenance contract stipulates that the contractor would undertake the repair of the road for a period of five years after the completion, the sources said. The road would have a width of seven metres and laying of the road would be similar to that of the KSTP stipulation, sources said.