The road clear now?

KOCHI: Much to the relief of commuters, the civic authorities have finally begun the repair works on major roads in the city. The work had already started at the central zone under the Corporation and, as the weather is favourable, will soon be extended to the roads in other areas of the city. “There will be strong monitoring at the road work sites with the help of residents associations. The old specifications for road work which we follow is one of the reasons  for the bad condition of our roads. We hope  the Government will soon upgrade the specifications of road work to modern standards. The Corporation is now aiming for durable roads in the city,” said Mayor Tony Chammany.Work has begun on Monday on roads for which the tender process was already completed. The works on other major roads will begin after the tender process is completed,” said Kochi Corporation Works Standing Committee chairman Soumini Jain.The list of ongoing works include that at the Pandit Karuppan Road and the filling of potholes at Valanjambalam-Ernakulam Girls High school stretch. “Filling of the potholes, metal patching and tar patching will be done immediately. The re tarring of the roads will be done once the tender proceedings for the work under People’s Plan fund are completed. The works are expected to begin by January,” she added. Simultaneously, the Kerala Construction Corporation (KCC) will also carry out the repair works on some of the major roads in the city. It was as per the instructions given by the State Government that the KCC is carrying out the repair works. With the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd already planning to initiate the metro-related works by October 1, the completion of the road repair works is crucial as the traffic will have to be diverted through arterial routes.