Railways takes up road work owing to KSTP delay

Kottayam: A stretch of MC Road near the railway station here has been in a poor condition for long with commuters blaming the Railways for the apathy. Frustrated with the delay in carrying out the redevelopment of the road by the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) on the MC Road stretch, near the railway bridge at Nagambadam, the railway authorities have taken the initiative to make it motorable. Usually the Railways carries out works only on land in its possession.

The Railways has allotted Rs. 5 lakh for repairing the road and bought 35 barrels of tar. It has awarded the work to local contractors here. The work would begin as soon as the heavy rain stopped, said sources in the Railways. The work would be carried out during the night to avoid traffic disruption, they added. The Railways is carrying out the repair works of the approach road too.

The busy path near the Kottayam railway station has been in a state of mess for long with works on the adjacent bridge on the MC Road in progress.

The Railways had, earlier, warned the the KSTP of carrying out the repair work if it couldn't finish it immediately. As KSTP did not take any action even after the road turned marshy after the rains, the Railways took the decision to carry out the repair works. When the works on the bridge started, the KSTP, and the State Public Works Department had asked the Railways to lay the approach road. Now the railways has to carry out the works on both the roads near the Nagambadam bridge.