Thiruvananthapuram: The social impact study of 11 Road-over-Bridges (RoBs) to be set up by the Kerala Railway Development Corporation (K-Rail) in the state on a cost-sharing basis between the State Government and the Centre has been completed.
A notification for acquiring the required land for the project ahead of deciding compensation has been issued.
The social impact assessment of the flyovers at Palli Gate (Thrissur), Nilambur Yard Gate (Malappuram), Kakkanad Gate, Tamarakulam (Alappuzha), Edakulangara, Polayathodu (Kollam), Mankara (Palakkad), Uppala, South Thrikkarippur (Kasaragod), Vellayil (Kozhikode) and Ezhimala (Kannur) got over.
However, the construction of the RoBs, whose tender proceedings got completed eight months back, is yet to begin with the State failing to allocate the funds so far.
The project
A total of 27 RoBs are to be constructed at busy railway level crossings in Kerala and these are unrelated to the controversial SilverLine Project to build a semi high-speed rail corridor.
The project is being executed on a cost-sharing basis between the state government and the Union Ministry of Railways. However, the State should allocate the initial funds to start the construction works. The Centre will allocate its share only later on the basis of the project progress.
The Public Works Department, with the nod of the Finance Department, is responsible for sanctioning and allocating funds for the project.
The tender proceedings of the Rs 22-crore Thrissur Palli Gate RoB and Rs 15-crore Nilambur Yard Gate RoB got over in January and March, respectively. Though the contracts were awarded to successful bidders, the work orders are yet to be handed over. The construction of the flyovers can be started within two months of obtaining the work orders.
The rest of the nine RoB projects, whose social impact study got over, are in the tendering stage. However, K-Rail is going slow on inviting tenders for the rest of the RoBs, with the state failing to allocate funds for the projects whose tender proceedings were over eight months back.
The State and the Union Ministry of Railways signed the pact to construct 27 RoBs in the state on July 2021. K-Rail is the implementing agency.
