KOCHI: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the flyovers at Vyttila and Kundannoor on Saturday morning, bringing some relief to the commuters from the choking traffic snarls on the Kochi bypass. Vyttila is the busiest junction in the state through which an estimated 13,000 vehicles pass through in an hour on an average.
Stressing on “development”, the CM also used the opportunity to condemn the attempts made to discredit the government. Indirectly referring to the unauthorised opening of Vyttila flyover allegedly by activists of V4Kerala on January 5, Pinarayi said some people are disturbed by the increasing faith of people in his government. The people who held protests against delay in opening of the flyover were not seen around when the state was facing a crisis, he said.
“The project was launched in December 2017 and was expected to be completed within 18 months. But floods and the Covid situation delayed the work. Overcoming the challenges, the PWD completed the work saving `6.73 crore from the estimated cost of `93.07 crore. But some people are trying to create controversy to get publicity,” said Pinarayi.
The CM also criticised retired High Court judge Kemal Pasha for supporting the opening of the flyover before inauguration.“I feel pity for men who held important positions in the judiciary supporting such people. It’s unfortunate. The government is committed to completing development projects with priority,” said Pinarayi.
He said the national highway authority had plans to introduce toll collection for construction of the four flyovers in Edappally, Aroor bypass in Kochi. “The project to construct flyovers at Edappally, Palarivattom, Vyttila and Kundannoor was presented by NHAI in 2008 and the estimated cost was `1,200 crore. The state government shouldered the responsibility as we were against putting the people to hardship by introducing toll,” the chief minister said.
The 720-metre long flyover has 12-metre width on both sides and has three lanes. The metro rail bridge passes over the flyover and the height from the flyover is 5.5m.The CM later inaugurated the Kundannoor flyover located 2km away from Vyttila.
The work was launched on March 26, 2018 and it cost `82.74 crore. The work was completed saving `8.29 crore, the CM said. Considering the request from BPCL, the height of the flyover was increased to 6.5 metres. An additional span of 30-metre length was added for this purpose. Works Minister G Sudhakaran said the new flyovers will decongest the busy bypass, adding, construction of 400 bridges had been taken up by the department during the past five years