Awaiting sanction for tarring delays RoB work

KOCHI: The police are finding it hard to control heavy traffic caused due to the delay in the completion of the Edappally RoB. It is estimated that at the peak hours, more than 1000 vehicles pass through this stretch. The work was supposed to finish by Nov 15 but will now be delayed by another month or so.The Edappally RoB is an easy route for the vehicles travelling to Vallarpadam and High Court areas as this way this can avoid the city traffic. However, the ongoing RoB work creates traffic jams that result in the consumption of more time compared to passing through the city. “Sometimes, the traffic in the Edappally and Vallarpadam gets out of control. We have requested the road authority to finish the work of RoB at right time. However, that does not seem feasible,” a traffic authority said.According to the councillor of the area Mahesh Kumar, the National Highways division of the PWD is yet to give sanction for the amount of tar to be used on the approach roads and this is causing the delay. “Presently, the approach roads have been sanctioned 2-cm-thick tar on both sides and a revised proposal has been sent to the NH to sanction more tar for the road,” Mahesh Kumar said.A revised proposal was sent as 2-cm-thick tar on these roads will not last for more than a year and would need constant maintenance works. “The tarring of the bridge has to be done properly as it will be regularly used by heavy trucks and lorries. Otherwise, the road will be filled with potholes within months of its commissioning” Mahesh said. In addition, there is also a delay in acquiring the pre-decided concrete protection bars for the bridge.  Later, steel bars were opted against concrete and it is still a proposal. The service roads, which were to be widened before the opening of the bridge, have not been widened yet,” Kumar added.National Highway officials said that they cannot do anything until the approval come from Delhi.  “We hope that the approval for the tarring will come soon and the work would be finished within a month’s time” an official said.