more-inFunds crunch has hit the World Bank (WB)-aided Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) Phase II with the upgrade of State Highways (SH) at a standstill in five of the nine corridors. Work is on only on the Thalassery-Kalarode, Kalarode-Valavupara, Chengannur-Ettumanur, and Ettumanur-Muvattupuzha corridors, with contractors stopping works on the other corridors as no payments had been made after November, sources said. The bank will give 48% of the total ₹2,403-crore loan for Phase II and the State has to bear over 51%. On the four corridors where the works are still on, the figures are: Thalassery- Kalarode (28.80 km, 31.25%), Kalarode-Valavupara (25.2 km, 38.65 %), Chengannur-Ettumanur (45.4 km, 90.1%), and Ettumanur-Muvattupuzha (40.96 km, 92.1%). The pace of the $22-million road safety component and the $8-million institutional component is not on the expected lines.

Source: The Hindu January 20, 2018 17:26 UTC