Technology has advanced so much that roads and bridges can be built much faster than in the past. However, due to delays in the approval of some departments and some other minor reasons, the road construction takes years. The upgrading of Smart City roads in the capital falls under it.

The progress of such road works is such that the residents of the capital know if they see a sign that says Smart City Road Works, this is not going to end anytime soon. It is a common sight in the city that even roads that can be completed in weeks are left in a state of disrepair even after months. All news media have reported this plight along with pictures.

At the time of awarding the contract for road construction, the date of completion should also be fixed. A provision should also be made that the contractor should pay compensation if the construction is not completed by that date. Otherwise, such road works, which are never smart, will continue without a beginning and an end. A high-level meeting has decided to review the road construction work at the ministerial level, taking into account the grievances of the people regarding the construction of smart city roads in the city. This decision was taken in a meeting attended by V Sivankutty and Antony Raju.

The meeting also directed to speed up the construction of 28 PWD roads under the responsibility of KRFB. The construction of other roads under Smart City will be completed in four phases. So far, only the construction of ten roads that were planned in the first phase has been completed. If the upgradation of the rest of the roads is not completed on time, the sanctioned amount for this may lapse. In the meeting, the ministers instructed the authorities not to interfere with this.

Ministers also said that delaying road construction due to technical reasons is cruel to the people. This will change only if there is a system of penalizing officials who create unnecessary technical hurdles. Lack of coordination between various departments is often a major cause of delays in road construction. The work on many roads has been delayed for months only because of the delay in replacing KSEB posts and water authority pipes. At least there should be an intervention from the side of the ministers to avoid this. Under the sign of Smart City, this not-so-smart road work is no surprise to anyone.