Sabarimala road maintenance begins

For smooth pilgrimage:Public Works Minister M. Vijayakumar inaugurates the first phase of the Sabarimala road maintenance scheme at Vadasserikkara on Friday.

PATHANAMTHITTA: Public Works Minister M. Vijayakumar on Friday launched the first phase of the ‘maintenance works of Sabarimala roads' at a public function held at Vadasserikkara, near Ranni.

Inaugurating the project, Mr Vijayakumar said the government had chalked out the road modernisation programmes of the Public Works Department with a long-term development perspective.

The proposed ‘heavy maintenance scheme' for major Sabarimala roads has been planned, ensuring guarantee for the next five years, he said.

The Minister said a total of 24,000 km road length across the State would be developed as per the heavy maintenance scheme. A total of Rs.5,000 crore would be spent on maintenance of roads this year, he added.

Mr Vijayakumar said roads played a key role in the development of a region and the present system of annual maintenance of all roads in

the State would be modernised, ensuring guarantee for a minimum period of five years, by introducing modern technology.

Development

The Minister said the State government had given top priority to Sabarimala development and accordingly allocated Rs.25 crore in the State budget for Sabarimala development. He said it was for the first time in the history of the State that budget allocation has been made for Sabarimala development.

Mr. Vijayakumar said the work on the proposed bridge at Kanamala would begin soon.

Exhibition

The Minister also opened a photo-poster exhibition organised by the Information and Public Relations Department at Vadasserikkara.

Raju Abraham, MLA, presided. S.Raveendran, District Collector; S. Haridas, Komalam Anirudhan, district panchayat members; Rajamma Pushpangadan, grama panchayat president; T. Baburaj, PWD chief engineer; K.Soman, superintending engineer; and John J. Elamkulam,

executive engineer, also spoke.