KOCHI: With Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board’s (KIIFB) approval for the revised estimate in the Vyttila flyover, the much-awaited project is expected to be completed by March 2020. The funding agency has been vetting the revised estimate and pending bills of the flagship project in the last five months along with variations in the Kundannoor flyover project. “We have approved the revised estimate submitted by the contractor. As the major issue has been resolved, all the pending bills will be disbursed within a few days. Though we have given in-principle approval long ago, it took a while to approve the bills due to the cautious approach taken in these projects,” said K M Abraham, CEO, KIIFB.
Earlier, TNIE reported that misery of road users at Vyttila and Kundannoor junctions was likely to continue with fund crunch hitting the construction of flyovers on November 6. While Vyttila flyover awaits the clearance of arrears of `13 crore, Kundanoor flyover has dues of `9 crore. “KIIFB is assessing the cost implications of Kundannoor flyover’s revision in the obligatory span. As there are a few more changes in the project, we will look into the details once the contracting firm uploads its bills. The disbursement of amount will be completed by month-end,” said the former state chief secretary.
The KIIFB CEO also reiterated its commitment to complete the works within the stipulated period. “As they are high-priority works, we hold weekly project intervention meetings to evaluate the progress of construction. With the current pace, we will be able to complete the work well within the deadline of March 2020,” he said. Sreedhanya Constructions, the contractor of Vyttila flyover, remains upbeat about meeting the deadline with the removal of existing stumbling blocks in the project.
“As our revised estimate is approved, the project will gather extra momentum in the coming days. We have been told that the amount will be transferred in three phases with 75 per cent disbursed as first instalment,” said the representative of the contractor. Whereas, a source close to Marymatha Constructions, contractor of Kundannoor flyover, revealed that their revised estimate has been given in-principle approval by the agency two days ago.
“We have received a call from a KIIFB official by saying that in-principle approval has been given to the revised estimate of the project. As there are only minor changes like rerouting the electricity lines, the bills will be sanctioned soon.”
Approach road construction
The contracting firm will start the construction of an approach road towards Palarivattom by November 15. “We will widen the sideway for 50m towards Palarivattom side for building the ramps and walls. A few piling works also be done to strengthen the road,” said the representative of Sreedhanya Constructions.