After being shut for close to two years, the Palarivattom flyover in Kochi, will be reopened for public on Sunday. With the opening of the flyover located at Palarivattom, a traffic bottleneck, commuters expect a major ease in traffic congestion in the area. Reportedly, the flyover will be opened for public without any formal inauguration on Sunday evening.
The flyover which was constructed at a cost of Rs 48 crore by the former UDF government and thrown open for public in 2016, was shut down two years later in May 2019, after cracks and structural damages were found. The flyover has now been reconstructed by the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS) Ltd, supervised by E Sreedharan, who was the Principal Advisor of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
“When the Palarivattom flyover gets opened tomorrow (Sunday), another promise made by the government is being implemented. While it was concerning whether the reconstruction will take one and half years, the promise that flyover will be thrown open for traffic within six months, the promise that people’s welfare and safety is the priority of this government, promise that development of Kerala is safe in the hands of LDF, has been realised,” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote on Facebook on Saturday.
CM also added that the flyover which was a picture of corruption, now stands with its heads up.
After the flyover was closed after finding it unsafe for traffic, a probe by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) was started, with the allegation of major corruption involving former Public Works Department Minister VK Ebrahim Kunju. The former Minister and legislator of Indian Union Muslim League, was arrested by VACB in last November as fifth accused in the case. It is alleged that Erbahim Kunju had sanctioned interest-free funds to the contracting company, which had built the flyover.
Former secretary of Public Works Department (PWD) Soorej TO; Sumeet Goyal, managing director of RDS Projects Ltd, the construction company of the project; MT Thankachan, former assistant general manager of Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala Ltd. (RBDCK), a subsidiary of Kerala PWD; Benny Paul, joint general manager of KITCO Ltd, consultancy agency, are the other accused in the case.
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