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KSTP Moots Proposal to Upgrade Roads Completed Under Phase-I

  • Even as the government is gearing up to launch the phase-II of the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP), the agency has proposed the government to upgrade all the roads which were refurbished under the successful KSTP phase-I."The KSTP has prepared the proposal to upgrade the roads which were improved under the phase-I of the programme based on fresh requirements and challenges thrown up in the recently concluded infrastructure conference. All the roads under the KSTP phase-I need to be upgraded now as it was more of heavy maintenance and less upgradation in phase-I," a senior source attached to the project told TOI.The KSTP had taken up 1,156 km of road under heavy maintenance programme in the phase-I of the project, but no widening was carried out. Considering the present traffic and importance of road connectivity, it has been proposed to widen 569 km of road which were improved in KSTP phase-I.
  • As per the government road policy for 2011-21, about 3,000 km of state highways (SH) have to be widened to 2-lane width. The improvements include widening, geometric correction, longitudinal profile correction and curve improvement, strengthening the pavements and road safety works."To take up the upgradation, detailed project report (DPR) has to be prepared and a financial study will have to be carried out to identify the various options for private-public partnership. Therefore, a consultant has to be appointed to prepare the land acquisition plan and DPR, so that early land acquisition procedure could be initiated," sources said.
  • The KSTP is also planning to seek the possibility for a technical assistance loan from World Bank. The anticipated cost for realising the proposal has been worked out approximately at Rs 2,500 crore.Further, the upgradation works were carried out on 254 km road under the KSTP phase-I. Out of this, the roads from Muvattupuzha to Thodupuzha, Muvattupuzha to Angamaly and Taikod to Chengannur have been proposed to be taken up under the Performance Based Maintenance Contract system (PBMC), the hallmark of which is to pay a contractor based on the results achieved, and not on the methods for performing the work.

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