It’s time for annual road repair and maintenance work, but this year, no such activity could be discerned on the roads in the district.
The reason — Public Works Department (PWD) has not been allotted the annual non-plan funds, amounting to around Rs 25 crore.
“Usually the patchwork and heavy maintenance of the roads are undertaken during the months of November, December and January. But this year we still haven’t started the work as the department is yet to receive a major share of the non-plan funds.
All that we’ve received so far is a meager ` five crore which has already been utilised,” a top PWD official grumbled.
The worst affected would be the roads in suburban areas, connecting the nearby satellite towns. The roads in the main city are maintained by Kochi corporation.
“Last year we had received `22 crore under non-plan funds. The PWD has written asking for a quick allocation of funds. However, the Finance department has yet to sanction the same,” the official complained.
During these three aforementioned months, the road repairing work is generally carried out. If this is neglected, the roads would be in a terrible condition by the next monsoon season. “Now we‘re not hopeful that the work will be carried out. It’s too late.
Even if we receive the funds now, the official procedures would take a minimum of 40 days before a single road stretch can be taken for repair,” the official said.