Department of Public Works (Kerala)

Public Works Department of Kerala
Pothu Maramathu Mantralayam
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Agency overview
Formed	1823
Preceding agencies	Panivakai Maramath- Travancore Cochin Maramath Office -Kingdom of Cochin
Jurisdiction	Kerala
Headquarters	Thiruvananthapuram
Agency executives	V. K. Ebrahimkunju, Minister for PWD Affairs Manoj Joshi, Secretary
Website
http://www.keralapwd.gov.in/
Footnotes
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Kerala Public Works Department (KPWD) is a department under the Government of Kerala which manages the construction and maintenance of civil structures owned by the government viz; government buildings, government owned hospitals (part of the public health system), roads, bridges etc.^[1][2] The KPWD was formed in 1956 following reorganization of states.^[2]

History

Public works department in the Kingdom of Travancore (which later formed the major part of Kerala State following the reorganisation of states in 1956) made its beginning in the year 1823 with the formation of the Maramath Department as a branch of the Huzur Cutchery (Government Secretariat) with an executive branch known as the Panivakai Maramath. The Administration Report of the department for the year 1873-74 states that "the new roads of which very nearly 1000 miles have been either completely opened or are in various stages of progress have tapped an enormous tract of the country hitherto almost inacessible, giving fresh impetus to agriculture". In Kochi, British Resident had a separate department called Public Works Commission to carry of construction works in British Cochin. The Kingdom had its own Marmath Department since 1825, as a separate agency to monitor construction of roads and palaces.

In 1901, the Kingdoms of Travancore and Kochi agreed to have an unified PWD Code and a permanent Joint commission of PWD Engineers in both sides were formed. The Travancore Maramath was headed by Chief Engineer, whereas it was a Diwan Peshkar (State Secretary) who head Kochi Marmath.

In 1949, when United State of Travancore-Cochin was formed, both the Maramath Departments were merged and renamed as Kerala PWD. Over the years the department has grown substantially and now has 5 Chief Engineers, 20 Superintending Engineers, 76 Executive Engineers, 289 Assistant Executive Engineers, 639 Assistant Engineers and other supporting staff.

Objectives

• Design, implementation and maintenance of all public works undertaken by Government
• Economic development of the State by providing required road infrastructure
• Development of interstate road infrastructure facilities
• Road safety
• Enhanced mobility of people and goods and services

About Department

The department is headed by a senior minister of cabinet rank. The Minister is assisted by Secretary for Public Works who heads the secretariat functions. As a technical department, it has a council composed of Chief Engineers and technical advisors along with nominated representatives from economical and social spheres.

Sub divisions

The Public Works Department have 4 major sub divisions, each headed by a Chief Engineering having Cabinet Secretary ranking

• National Highways Wing, manages all National Highways located within territorial limits of the state. The Wing is responsible for carrying out construction and managing all activities as directed by Ministry of Surface Transportation of Government of India and liaisons with activities of NHAI

• Roads and Bridges Wing, manages all State Highways, local roads and city roads as well as bridges. The Wing is responsible for construction of new roads and bridges as well as maintenance of existing ones.

• Public Structures and Buildings Wing, manages all state owned buildings except those owned by other Government agencies. It has absolute right to construct all government buildings and structures. Most of the state guest houses and palaces are owned by PWD, though a few have been hand-over to Tourism department and Revenue departments.

• Operations & Projects Wing, supervises general operations of the department, especially new projects announced or under construction stage. The Vigilance department of PWD comes under this wing.

The operational units of each wing are geographically distributed and tiered by Circles, under which are the Divisions that generally correspond to the districts of Kerala, Sub-Divisions and Sections. All programme delivery activities such as design, construction, operations and maintenance are delegated to the wings.

The Kerala State Transport Project is headed by Chief Engineer (Projects). Major design of bridges, buildings & project preparation are provided by a separate wing (DRIQ Board) headed by Chief Engineer (Operations). Each programme delivery wing reports to a Chief Engineer thus ensuring that the appropriate approvals and resources are obtained. The department has also an Architecture wing headed by a Chief Architect.

The following organisations are functioning under the Department.

• Kerala State Construction Corporation Ltd.
• Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala Ltd.
• Kerala Road Fund Board

The Roads & Bridges wing and the Building & Local Works wing of the department have three circles each to supervise the execution of works at divisional level. Both the wings have one division at district level. The Buildings wing has also a Judicial circle exclusively for the supervision of construction works in Judicial sector. There is a Superintending Engineer for Electrical and an Executive Engineer for Electronics for advicing the related matters to the Chief Engineer Buildings Wing. The National Highway wing has three circles and eight divisions.

The execution of works is supervised and completed through the Executive Engineer. The construction works of roads, bridges, buildings, repairs, renovation and maintenance work thereof is looked after by each division under its territorial jurisdiction.

Under each division there will be three or four subdivisions to undertake actual execution of work.

Rest Houses

Kerala State Public Works Department has rest houses in all cities and towns and in most of the major panchayats and hill stations of the state. Rooms are available for stay of Government officials on duty at the places and to general public according to availability. There are 137 rest houses/ Inspection Bungalows under the control of PWD. PWD also have several Tourist Bungalows located in various important tourist destinations, available for tourists for daily rent, though the government has started the process of handing over several TBs to KTDC

References

1. ^ Government of Kerala official web site, Public Works Department.
2. ^ ^{a b} KPWD Official web site, About us.

See also

• Roads in Kerala
• Roads and Bridges Development Corporation
• Central Public Works Department

External links

• KeralaPWD.gov.in Official web site of Kerala PWD.