THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It seems good luck has come calling the city roads. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, in his post-Cabinet briefing, has announced Rs 74.42 crore for the development of roads in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi Corporations together. So to whatever size its slice is cut, the City Corporation can look forward to some of its roads getting back in shape soon. The City Corporation, never in the recent past, has met with such difficult times in road maintenance. Financial crisis on one hand and threatening contractors demanding their pay on the other hand had made matters worse for the local body. Two weeks before, the government had asked the Corporation to give an estimate of the road works to be carried out in the capital. And to list out roads where emergency maintenance was required. The Corporation had listed out 365 roads, at least two roads in each ward, and presented an estimate of Rs 96 crore. “We do not know how much the city will benefit since it is going to be shared between the two Corporations. But it would be hugely welcome since we would be able to mend our worst roads and make it negotiable,” said V S Padmakumar, Works Standing Committee chairman. According to the officials, PWD will carry out the urgent works in the Corporation as per the list submitted by the local body. Though Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that the administrative sanction had been accorded for the road works, the sharing of the amount or the time period set for the repair works are still not known. The Corporation is however, still far from a care-free Onam. For it is still looking for ways to sort out the financial debt it owes to the road contractors. Though it has paid off Rs 3.5 crore in the beginning of this week, more than Rs 20 crore is still pending. The contractors will announce a decision in this regard after Onam.
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