A government college in Koyilandy has many floors but no staircase. Bonsai-like trees shoot through the walls of Chakkai ITI in Thiruvananthapuram. The multi-storied Government Higher Secondary School at Parayanchery in Kozhikode has been completed in March 2022 but has still not been occupied. The Court complex at Irinjalakkuda in Thrissur had to be reworked after construction began because the private agency that did the soil investigation failed to detect the hard rock underneath.

If in Kerala there were just buildings constructed by the Public Works Department (PWD), the state would have looked like a nearly deserted creepy land. Many are badly maintained with cracked tiles and split open walls that let foliage burst through, some are deserted with no access roads, yet others are incomplete, and some exist just so that the contractors could make a killing.

It is the Buildings wing of the PWD that take up the construction of buildings required for various government departments like Health, Education, Revenue, and also the PWD. Onmanorama lists some of the major reasons why PWD buildings have ended up as perhaps the most abandoned structures in Kerala.

Lapses in investigation
As per the Kerala PWD Manual, all work should be properly investigated, and all relevant data collected and correlated before finalizing the design and estimate for the work. And detailed estimate has to be prepared after a thorough investigation of the site by the concerned authority.

This failure in investigation has caused both delays and cost escalation. Inept planning, structural drawing, and preparation of estimates by a private agency, for instance, necessitated massive changes in foundation and structural redesign of a multi-storied building designed for the functioning of various Commissions at Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram, after the original work began.

In another case of poor investigation, excess quantity of 253 metre cube of hard rock had to be removed for the construction of the Architecture Block in Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Kottayam. The private agency asked to do the soil investigation could not detect rock at a distance that could be reached with just a minute of drilling. This resulted in an additional cost of nearly Rs 2 crore.

Delays in completion
Under the PWD Manual, time is the most important component of the PWD work contract.

It says that the extension of deadline that can be granted for a work at a time shall not exceed 25% of the original time or six months, whichever is less. The maximum extension that can be granted for a work shall be limited to half the original deadline.

The latest CAG report found that there were delays ranging from one month to 50 months for completion of nearly 90 works.

The Golden Jubilee PG Block of the Government Arts & Science College, Kozhikode, was delayed by 41 months, nearly two years. The Architectural Block at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology (RIT), Pampady, Kottayam, was delayed by 50 months, over two years. The painting of the Obstetrics’ & Gynaecology Block of Kottayam Medical College was delayed by eight months. Even the improvement works of the ICU of Institute of Chest Diseases, Kozhikode, extended one year beyond deadline.

"Construction delays have a significant adverse impact on the timely delivery of benefits to schools, colleges, hospitals, and offices operating in rented buildings," the CAG report had said.

No competitive bidding
There is a government order that mandates that all tenders of Rs 5 lakh and above should be procured only through electronic procurement system. The GO was issued in line with Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) guidelines to ensure actual price discovery through competitive bidding process.

Many works were carried out without competitive bidding. Examples: Model Residential School at Maruthonkara, Kozhikode; Golden Jubilee PG Block at Government Arts and Science College, Kozhikode; Government Taluk Hospital, Vatakara, Kozhikode; Urgent maintenance works for manufacturing unit at Central Prison, Thrissur; Infrastructure works for additional hospital building in Taluk Hospital, Sulthan Bathery, Wayanad.

Non-imposition of Liquidated Damages
As per clause 14 of the PWD's Standard Bid Document (SBD), milestone dates will have to be specified in the contract data. Further, liquidated damages (LD) will have to be imposed if the contractor fails to comply with the milestones. The LD is 1 per cent of the contract value per week if the contractor fails to maintain the required progress.

The CAG report made two observations. One, the PWD authorities did not impose the LD when contractors failed to achieve milestones. In three works alone - School building of GHS, Kurumbala, Wayanad; School building of Government UP school, Chennalode, Wayanad; and PHC Kottur, Kozhikode - contractors were spared LD to the tune of nearly Rs 30 lakh.

Two, though the contractor deserted the construction of the Architectural Block at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Pampady, Kottayam, for more than 48 weeks, no action was initiated to collect the LD that worked out to nearly Rs 70 lakh.

Reduced Defect Liability Period
On November 25, 2019, the Kerala Government modified the Defect Liability Period (DLP) for different types of works to 60 months from 36 months.

Many works for which agreements were executed after November 25, 2019, the DLP was fixed as 36. Examples: PWD Rest House, Sulthan Bathery; E Narayanan Memorial Auditorium, Engineering College, Thalassery; new building for Government TTI for Men Model UP School, Kannur; super speciality block, District Hospital, Palakkad; Heritage Museum at Kalloor, Noolpuzha, Wayanad.

A top PWD official said that when the DLP is shortened, the burden of setting right any defects that could crop up between the 37th and 60th month will unnecessarily fall on the government. “If it’s a poor construction, cracks would start appearing or blocks of concrete would come loose from the fourth year. That was why the government extended the DLP to five years (60 months),” the official said.

Ghost houses
Even the PWD conceded that in Kozhikode and Wayanad divisions alone, 24 buildings constructed at a total cost of Rs 25.50 crore were not handed over to user departments even after a period of eight to 44 months.

The academic block of SARBTM College, Koyilandi, Kozhikode, has been idling since July 2022. Classrooms and facilities like staircase were

not completed with allotted funds because these were diverted for additional structural work. In Wayanad, the staff quarters of the Government Engineering College has not been occupied since April 2019. Reason: No road access.

Other examples: classroom building for Polytechnic College, Dwaraka, Wayanad (Cost - Rs 56.37 lakh. Delay - 44 months); additional block for Dental College, Kozhikode (Rs 3.64 crore. 25 months); Model Police Station, Kunnamangalam, Kozhikode (Rs 1.19 crore. 19 months); new building in Government Technical High School, Kozhikode (Rs 77 lakh. 30 months).

At the mercy of elements
The PWD Manual has laid down a time-table for the repairs of government buildings. White washing and painting of iron works, for instance, have to be carried out annually. Painting of walls, doors and windows, every two years. PWD engineers are responsible for the upkeep, inspection and maintenance of buildings.

However, most PWD buildings look desperate for care; cracks on the surface wall, damage to floor tiles, growth of trees and moss, water logging on the roofs, leakage of concealed pipes and taps, drizzling of water into the rooms. The condition of public toilets in many civil stations, where the public frequent the most, have deteriorated and no one seems interested.