Ottapalam: The Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) has missed yet another deadline to complete the renovation of the Ottapalam–Cherpulassery road, having failed to meet its projected October 31 completion date.

KRFB officials had previously assured the local Tahsildar of this timeline during a recent Taluk Development Committee meeting. The revenue official had intervened after committee members raised collective concerns across party lines regarding the protracted delays and the resulting hardship faced by commuters.

Despite multiple reassurances, work on the overdue project continues to progress at a slow pace. Local residents allege that the agency and the contractor only carry out piecemeal surfacing in specific pockets where public protests flare up. Commuters, roadside residents, and merchants continue to deal with heavy dust during dry spells and waterlogged, muddy tracks when it rains. Navigating excavated sections and stretches where only wet-mix macadam has been laid remains hazardous.

The KRFB has cited delays by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) in laying underground pipelines as the primary reason for the stalled surfacing work.

The upgrade of the corridor between Ottapalam and Kizhoor Road has now been underway for two and a half years. While the Kizhoor Road–Cherpulassery stretch was widened and renovated in the project's first phase, the Ottapalam–Kizhoor section was taken up under Phase 2.

The original contract period lapsed in March, following which an extension was granted through September. However, more than a month past the extended deadline, substantial portions of the work remain incomplete. To date, progress has largely been limited to the construction of roadside drainage channels, culverts, and surfacing on a few isolated stretches.