Thrissur: Kuthiran tunnel can be completed within three months if the main contractor KMC makes a part payment towards the dues of Rs 50 crore, CEO of the sub-contracting company Hyderabad-based Pragathi Engineering’s CEO M.V.S. Krishnamraju has said.
The final works of electrification and ventilation have been pending as Pragathi officials had called off their work due to the non-payment from main contractor KMC nine months ago.
“Now, we have come over to Maharashtra for a tunnel project. But, most of our heavy machinery is at the Kuthiran site in Thrissur.
We have suffered losses but even if we get payment in part, we are ready to restart the tunnel work and finish all works in three months. Since the time we have called off our work, we have not yet got a single penny from the KMC,” Mr Krishnamraju said.
He said the tunnel work stated in 2016 as a Rs 110-crore project for both tunnels with one kilometer length that is expected to ease graffic in the Kuthiran stretch of the Kochi-Coimbatore route. Due to cost escalation, it has become Rs 150-crore project.
During the historic deluge in 2018 August there was landslide on the Palakkad side of the tunnel and the company had come up with some landscaping and redesigning on top of the tunnel openings by creating stabilised slopes, netting and rock moulding works to prevent landslide, he added.
First tunnel openedfor 4 hours After an accident at the Irumbu Palam on the regular route on Kuthiran mountain involving two trucks during the wee hours on Friday, Peechi and Highway Police had made arrangement for opening of the first tunnel the work of which was nearly completed from 3.45 am to 8 a.m. till the road was cleared.
There was a traffic snarl up to noon due to an accident in the morning on the same route a few days ago.
“We made arrangeme nts for opening the first tunnel (the one on the right from Thrissur side) as it is an alternative path and closed it after the regular road was cleared. The vehicles moved on the approach bridge above the stream on the Palakkad side as well on Friday morning,” Peechi SI Manoj K. Gopi said.
