With the strike entering the 15th day, the road repair work in the Corporation area is at a standstill. The contractors have abandoned work to the tune of Rs 6 crore.

“We have already rejected tenders worth Rs 3 crore under the People’s Planning Programme and another Rs 3 crore worth of road repair work utilising the Division Fund,” Kochi Contractors Association president M R Chandran Pillai said.

Pillai said over 200 contractors were suffering owing to the negligent attitude of the civic body. “A total of Rs 18 crore is already due to the contractors,” he added.

Though the Corporation owed them a huge amount, the Councillors are pressurising them to undertake further work, he said.

“As the civic polls are slated for September, a majority of the councillors want the repair works to be carried out immediately. But, the contractors are helpless as the civic body has failed to honour the promise given to them to clear the pending amount on an instalmentbasis,” he said, adding that the contractors would intensify the strike if the payment was not made soon.

With the contractors hesitating to undertake new work, a majority of the road repair work under the Maintenance Grant, People’s Planning, Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project (KSUDP) and the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) schemes are yet to be carried out in the city.

However, Mayor Mercy Williams told Express that the civic body would take necessary steps to settle the strike soon. “The Corporation is facing shortage of funds as the elections have already been declared.

“We will try our levelbest to make the first instalment of the payment due to the contractors before Onam,” Mercy Williams said.