Three years since Smart Roads project, commuters forced to grapple with dug-up roads in Kerala capital

Three years since Smart Roads project, commuters forced to deal with dug-up roads in Kerala capital

It began as a project for turning major stretches in the city into smart roads. But three years later, all that daily commuters get to experience are dug-up roads and traffic diversions.

The woes of the commuters are set to worsen in the coming days with the monsoon rains set to arrive next week. Although the government had issued an ultimatum to make the roads motorable at least by the time schools reopen, that timeline has clearly been missed.

The Smart Roads project began three years ago as part of various projects under the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation’s initiatives under the Smart City scheme, partly funded by the Union government. Though the initial delays were due to the pandemic, some of the contractors who had taken up the major works had caused major delays on their parts. Some of the projects were even sub-contracted to entities that did not have enough machinery or skilled labourers, often affecting the pace and quality of the work.

Finally, in August 2022, the Smart City Thiruvananthapuram Limited terminated its contract with one of the private companies. The bidding process that followed dragged on for six more months. In the middle of all this, the termination of the contract with the project management consultancy and dilly-dallying over who would be the next consultant also took up precious time.

The Manaveeyam Veedhi is one of the roads which stands as a prime example of the haphazard manner in which the project has been executed. The cultural corridor, in which various events used to happen regularly, is now a dug-up mess after the execution of a plan to turn it into a scientifically designed cultural space, accessible to everyone.

The construction of badly designed footpaths and walkways by the previous contractor had led to drastic reduction in the width of the road. Now, the walkways are being dismantled as per a changed design in which half of the road will be a cobbled street which can also be used by vehicles, but can be closed when events are happening, according to a Smart City official.

“The work on the Manaveeyam Veedhi has now restarted. The surfacing and street lighting might take a couple of more months. Part of the work of shifting the utility cables to underground ducts have been completed, but the connection to the main line is still to be done,” said a Corporation official.