KOCHI: An expert committee constituted by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) Ernakulam District Unit to probe the alleged corruption in the construction of Palarivattom NH flyover inspected the flyover on Tuesday.
According to a VACB officer, the expert committee assessed the structure and materials used for the construction. “The expert committee has a professor from Thrissur Government Engineering College, two superintendent engineers and a design executive engineer of PWD. The samples for assessing the construction will be collected and sent to the concerned laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram this week,” an officer said. Based on the committee report, VACB will summon the contractor, structural designer, officials with KITCO and RBDCK for interrogation. “Now, we are at the preliminary stage of the probe which will be completed once the expert committee submits its report.
In the second stage, the statements of the accused persons and others associated with the construction of the bridge will be collected. We are also verifying the documents collected as part of the probe,” the officer said.
Last month, VACB, following a preliminary inquiry, registered FIR against contractor RDS Projects, structural designer and unidentified officials with KITCO-project consultant company and RBDCK, the implementing agency.
Bridge
Palarivattom flyover has been closed for the past two months after cracks developed on several parts of the bridge.
● A team from IIT-Madras, which also inspected the bridge, submitted a report to the PWD Minister highlighting the flaws in the construction.
● PWD Minister G Sudhakaran, who visited the flyover, blamed RBDCK and KITCO for not monitoring the construction carried out by the contractor firm.