KOCHI: The entire flyover at Palarivattom Junction needs a massive restoration as the design and the structure of the entire stretch has flaws. The repair alone can’t make the stretch motorable,” said PWD Minister G Sudhakaran.
He was speaking to the media after visiting the flyover on Saturday. “The construction of the flyover from the beginning had some issues. As per the design, the deflection should be at a gap of 25 mm, but it is 40 mm.
The reinforcement is very low as it can’t hold the power generated on the bridge,” said the Minister.
The Minister also ordered a Vigilance probe to find the corruption involved in the construction of the flyover executed by contracting firm RDS Projects Ltd of Delhi. He also said the construction of the R47.70-crore flyover on the NH bypass at Palarivattom by the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK) has three major defects.
“The design of the project has some errors. However, these errors were not at all verified and rectified in between the construction. Instead of using the expertise, the engineers of the RBDCK just copied the plan from KITCO.
Those who are involved in the unscientific construction will have to face the legal battle. Based on the Vigilance report, the government will take steps to sack them,” the Minister warned.
However, the Minister said he doesn’t want to take this up as a political issue. “The reports submitted by IIT Madras clearly mentioned it is an administrative and technical issue. No politics is involved in this. Not even a single review meeting was held during the construction to assess the project implementation. Only for the revised estimation, they convened a meeting,” the Minister said.
The Palarivattom flyover was in the news since its inauguration for all the wrong reasons. The structure had developed potholes and cracks within months after its inauguration in October 2016.