Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal on Wednesday urged the Public Works Department (PWD) to explore ways to reuse materials used for road construction.
Inaugurating a PWD initiative for installing 'running contract boards' on 12,322 km of roads managed by it, Mr. Balagopal said reuse was important as construction materials did not have a perennial source.
The Minister also stressed the need for research into more efficient ways of using rubber in road construction. Rubberised roads had a longer life and were better for vehicle tyres. The State Budget had earmarked ₹50 crore for rubberised roads. Increased use of rubber in road construction would also benefit the rubber sector in the State, Mr. Balagopal said.
The PWD plan to upgrade more than half of its roads using bituminous macadam and bituminous concrete (BM and BC) by 2026 would improve road quality and help to cut down on annual road maintenance expenses, Mr. Balagopal said.
The PWD was installing blue-coloured boards giving the name and phone number of the contractor and the PWD official concerned and contract details on 12,322 km of roads which were under 'running contracts' for their upkeep. These were roads where the Defect Liability Period (DLP) had expired.
Presiding over the function, Minister for Public Works P.A. Mohamed Riyas reiterated that by 2026 more than half of the 30,000 km of roads managed by the PWD would be upgraded using BM and BC. The 'running contract boards' would introduce more transparency in the matter of road maintenance, he said.
Earlier, the PWD had installed 3,200 green-coloured boards on various roads indicating the DLP.
