KOCHI: As part of the state government’s steps to recover the losses incurred due to the defects in the Palarivattom flyover construction, the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala Limited (RBDCK) on Tuesday seized Rs 4.5 crore from the contractor, RDS Projects Ltd. The decision came hours before RDS Projects moved the Kerala High Court seeking the release of the performance guarantee amount.
The amount was deposited as the performance guarantee by the contractor at the beginning of the flyover construction and the recovery decision was taken by RBDCK managing director Rahul R Pillai. “We have frozen the amount which was deposited as the performance guarantee as part of the project agreement. Usually, the amount is used to charge for the lapses and contractual violations from the contractor during the period of the agreement. RBDCK took the decision on the basis of the structural defects in the flyover,” said an RBDCK official.
Keeping a performance guarantee amount is a regular practice in constructions. Besides seizing this amount, the officials haven’t received any further directives to recover the remaining losses. “No decision has been taken in recovering the amount. As the case is still under consideration of the High Court, we are waiting for the state government’s direction in the matter,” he said.
Earlier, the state government had decided to award the contract of rebuilding the Palarivattom flyover to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) following a recommendation by the corporation’s principal adviser, E Sreedharan. The new flyover is expected to have a life of 100 years.
An expert team constituted by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways spotted cracks in the flyover in October last year.
Following this, a Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) investigation was launched and the probe found that the contractor used less concrete during the construction. The Palarivattom flyover was commissioned in October 2016.