Minister Mohammad Riaz: All Sabarimala Roads To Be Made Passable Before The Start Of The Pilgrimage: Before the Sabarimala pilgrimage, the renovation of 19 main roads and related roads will be completed, Public Works Department Minister P.A. Muhammad Riaz said. The minister was speaking at a press conference held at the Pathanamthitta Collectorate after visiting the Sabarimala roads in the district for two days.
The government is preparing facilities related to Sabarimala after understanding that there will be an increase in the number of pilgrims this time after the Covid period. Contractors, officials, MLAs, People’s Representatives, and District Collectors have helped the district to achieve this feat through collective action. The dormitory system will be set up in public works building near the Sannidhanam footpath. Here pilgrims can book online. Online booking facility is available for pilgrims in rest houses also. All steps will be taken for the coordination of departments.
The department had set a timeline for completing the public works on the roads and other major roads as directed by the High Court. On September 23, these roads were inspected and a review meeting was held. When this inspection was conducted, it was found that 14 out of 19 roads need to be renovated. There were five roads without difficulty. 14 roads are timed and each action is decided. The officers were assigned individual responsibilities. As part of this, it was decided to directly evaluate the progress of these roads on October 19 and 20 as a team including the minister.
Out of the 19 roads that have been inspected, minor problems have been found on three roads. All 16 roads have been completed as scheduled. These roads with minor problems are related to KSTP work. These roads are timed for operation. Punalur-Pathanapuram road has some problems with Pathanapuram town. BM work of 16 km of this road and the remaining 14 km of trafficable work will be completed by October 25. High officials of KSTP have been appointed to camp and monitor this. When I went to Pathanapuram town, the situation was miserable. An emergency intervention was suggested there. Strict instructions were given to repair Pathanapuram town by Wednesday evening. By evening, the repairs in the town were completed. The rest of the work will also be completed on time.
The Minister said that the works of Punalur-Konni Road, Iraviperur-Pathanamthitta Road, and Kojancherry-Ranni Road will be completed by October 30 and made passable. The BM work on Plapalli-Angamoozhi road will be completed before November 10. Apart from this, there are roads that have been pointed out by the representatives and people. Ilamannur-Kalanjoor-Padam road has received many complaints. Its 10 km BM work has been completed. The BM-BC work on this road will be completed before December 30. A special meeting will be held on the 26th and 6th of this month to evaluate the progress of road construction. KSTP Project Director Pramod Shankar has been tasked with ensuring safety systems including necessary directional boards on the roads.
The minister said that every year, the inspection trip with the people’s representatives and officials will continue at the same time to assess the condition of the roads related to Sabarimala and the bridges on the pilgrimage route will be beautified.
Adv. K.U. Janishkumar MLA, District Collector Dr. Divya S Iyer, District Police Superintendent Swapnil Madhukar Mahajan, PWD Secretary Ajith Kumar, Joint Secretary Sambasivarao, Public Works Chief Engineer Ajit Ramachandran and other departmental officials were present.
