THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Rebuild Kerala Initiative (RKI), the agency set up in the aftermath of mid-August’s flood to oversee the future development of the state, would be taking its action on the ground with the reconstruction of 307 roads covering 604 km spread across eight districts.
Designer roads built using modern technology will come up in Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Wayanad, Thrissur, Idukki, Palakkad and Alappuzha.
“Detailed project reports for some of the roads have been made. In the next four to five months we will identify vendors by floating tenders.” said Venu V, Revenue Secretary and RKI Chief Executive, Rebuilding roads is Rki’s top priority.
Rebuild Kerala Initiative, which had come in for much flak for the slow progress in rebuilding activities, is taking up the work after finalising the international funding.
After clinching $250 million loan from the World Bank, the state will ink a deal with German Bank (KfW Development Bank) for a Euro 90 million loan in the next couple of weeks. The second tranche of Euro 80 million will be available by November. The money from KfW will be used exclusively for reconstructing the road via the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP).
“They are allocating the funds to KSTP since the model was ready. Using the funds, we will upgrade select pack of roads to design roads.” said Venu. The total length of the roads to be rebuilt is more than what KSTP has done in the last 15 years. According to him it is going to be a significant investment in the road sector. KfW is to fund 70 per cent, with the state government chipping in the remaining 30 percent, taking the total to Euro 250 million.
Unlike the World Bank aid the KfW payments are bill -based. KfW consultants will monitor the KSTP projects. Payments will based on their monitoring and sanction.
Rebuild Kerala Initiative was started in November, 2018 with the stated aim of giving shape to a resilient Kerala. RKI has identified various sectors where experts from outside will sit with government officers to identify priorities and initiate reforms with sufficient funding, said Venu.
Environment, water resources management, water supply, sanitation, urban, roads and bridges, transportation, forestry, agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, livelihoods and land are some of the sectors identified by RKI for ushering in the reforms.