High Court asks government to file affidavit on flyover work.

The Kerala High Court recently directed the State government to ask a top official of the Public Works Department (PWD) to file an affidavit on the work schedule, including the time of starting and completion of works, of the proposed flyovers at Vyttila and Kundannoor junctions.

The court was considering a writ petition seeking a directive to start the construction of the proposed six-lane Vyttila flyover in consultation with Kochi Metro Rail Limited and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited.

In a statement, Sreemala V.K., Executive Engineer, PWD, NH(B) Division, Kodungallur, said that it had been declared in the State Budget that ‘the government would construct the flyovers under the new mechanism - Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB)’. Since the government did not want to impose toll on the flyovers, which the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had insisted for taking up the construction, the final stand of the government was that the flyovers would be constructed by the government, the statement said.

The NHAI had earlier submitted that it would have no issues in constructing the flyovers provided that it was allowed to recover the cost by collecting toll from users.

The Statement was filed in response to a writ petition submitted by Francis Manjooran. He said the flyover would ease the traffic congestion at the busy junction. The foundation stone for the project was laid by former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in February 2016. It was then announced that the flyover would be commissioned by September 2017, he said.

The fate of the flyover was now uncertain because of the lack of coordination among various government departments, he added.

The metro rail project was fast progressing and its construction had almost reached Vyttila Junction. But even now authorities were in the dark about the project. In fact, Rs. 10 crore had been spent for preparing three study reports on the project.

THE HINDU