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Road repairs yet to begin

KOCHI: Pre-monsoon road repairs are yet to begin in right earnest in Kochi, with contractors demanding rates higher than those fixed by the State government.

With the monsoon hardly a week away, the delay in beginning the works will worsen the condition of arterial and side roads. A Public Works Department (PWD) official said that contractors had demanded a 15 per cent to 40 per cent increase in the government rates to carry out the repairs. “Though work orders have been given, we have sought the sanction of the Superintending Engineer to confirm the rates,” he said.

Only tender excess up to 15 per cent can be decided at the regional level. Many contractors of the City Corporation also have demanded an increase in rates to carry out road and drain repairs.

The PWD contractors have taken strong exception to the government fixing Rs. 140 as the daily wage for a worker and Rs. 227 (on which seven per cent tax is levied) for a 50-kg sack of cement, at a time when cement is not available at less than Rs. 250. “It is difficult to get a worker even for Rs. 300. Most of the road repairs in the city have to be carried out at night, since daytime work causes traffic hold-ups.

Workers demand at least Rs. 400 for night work,” said Joji Joseph, secretary of the All-Kerala Government Contractors’ Association. Most of the pre-monsoon works are to fill potholes and unclog drains, for which contractors are heavily dependent on labourers.

An inordinate delay in sanctioning the work results in potholes becoming bigger and this necessitates the use of more materials and labour. Often, contractors who win the bid assign the road repairs to sub-contractors who might not carry out quality work.

Mr. Joseph pointed out that a recent phenomenon in Kochi was the private sector luring contractors with the assurance of prompt payments.

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