Govt. nod for ₹951 cr. WB-aided projects.

In a major step towards the Rebuild Kerala Initiative, the government has given the nod for ₹951.60 crore projects of five departments, including relaying of 819 km of PWD roads and 601.94 km of roads under the Local Self-Government Department, with World Bank assistance.

The Fisheries Department’s cage culture project of 1,000 units, the Transport Department’s ₹30 crore two-lane bridge across Kadambrayar at Brahmapuram in Ernakulam, and the Forest Department’s three projects of relocating the settlements in the forest limits, take over of private estates and private mangroves estimated to cost ₹130.40 crore have got in principle approval.

As much as 819 km of PWD roads with 255 km falling under the south zone, 269 km from the central zone and 295 from the north zone will be reconstructed at an estimated cost of ₹300 crore. The funds for relaying the 819-km will be made available from the $250 million Development Policy Loan (DPL) of the World Bank provided for Resilient Kerala Programme.

The 601.94 km rural roads in Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Idukki, Wayanad, and Palakkad under the Local Self-Government Department (LSGD) will be made climate resistant. Of these roads, ₹315 crore is for roads clustered as category A and ₹173 crore for category B. Among the eight districts, the highest of 144.84 km rural roads to be relaid is in Idukki district.

The ₹488-crore needed for relaying of LSGD roads in eight districts will also be made available from the DPL provided by the World Bank during the financial year 2019-20.

The World Bank aid is made available to the exchequer as budgetary support through the Department of Economic Affairs and the State has the flexibility for disbursing the funds for achieving targets set under the Rebuild Kerala Initiative. Thus, the PWD and the LSGD are the first beneficiaries of the DPL provided by the WB by getting ₹788 crore.

The order is silent on the funding for the projects of Transport, Fisheries and Forest Departments. The government nod comes in the wake of the clearance given to the projects by the High Power Committee set up for the Rebuild Kerala Development Programme.

THE HINDU