Kochi: A day after public works minister G. Sudhakaran turned his ire on Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) for the delay in clearing funds for projects, the latter on Monday hit back at the minister listing serious shortcomings, including failure to meet quality standards and project deadline, on the part of the PWD under him.
KIIFB, the special purpose vehicle the state government created for funding major infrastructure projects, in a Facebook post said the PWD had failed to comply with the quality norms laid down by the KIIFB in as many as 36 projects. They were not completed in a time-bound manner either, it pointed out. “KIIFB is concerned not only with making funds available, but also with ensuring quality and timely execution of projects,” the post said.
Referring to the Palode-Karet stretch of Varkala-Ponmudi tourism road, it said the PWD had forwarded complaints from the public to KIIFB for action. The KIIFB team which inspected the stretch found lapses in the construction as it was not based on the outline prepared by Technical Resource Centre (TRC) and KIIFB. The registers, including those of cement and steel, were not available at the work site even 15 months after the work began.
Although prime and taco coats spray rates were mentioned, the value given was wrong. This was allowed by the engineer in charge. The inspection in April last found only 23 per cent progress in the construction though the contractor should have completed 72 per cent work by this period as per the agreement.
The authorities concerned were directed to rectify the lapses in seven days and submit a report to the KIIFB chief project examiner. However, this direction was also not complied with on time. It was also directed that in the event of any changes in the structure and form of the project, the KIIFB guidelines should be followed.
The recommendations given by the KIIFB regarding quality were not implemented. Subsequently, these were included in the list of projects to be temporarily stopped and this was conveyed by the KIIFB CEO to PWD principal secretary. Earlier, the KIIFB had directed to stop 12 works. Though changes were suggested to ensure quality, nothing was done and stop memo was issued to these projects, the post said.
