The Kerala Government Contractors’ Association has sought the permission of the government for an independent study by globally reputed agencies on the structural flaws detected on the Palarivattom flyover .
“We have spoken to a UAE-based company and experts in structural engineering at IIT Kanpur. They are willing to conduct inspections provided the government permits. The study will be funded jointly by the association, Builders’ Association of India (BAI), and Kerala Structural Engineers’ Association,” Varghese Kannampally, State president of the association, said here on Wednesday.
Asked whether they have accepted the findings of Metroman E. Sreedharan and experts from IIT-Madras, Mr. Kannampally said both Mr. Sreedharan and the IIT team had not fully gone into the flaws in the design, technical sanction, monitoring, and execution of the project.
“Mr. Sreedharan is a noted project manager. But we should realise that engineering has developed tremendously over the years. Even Mr. Sreedharan has not subscribed to the findings of experts from IIT Madras,” he observed.
Mr. Kannampally praised the managing director of the contracting firm for reporting structural issues in the flyover within two months of its inauguration. “He could have kept it under the table. Instead, he informed the authorities concerned. However, no follow-up action was taken,” he alleged. On the IIT team’s finding that the cracks over girders and pier caps developed primarily due to inadequate use of cement and steel, Binu Mathew, district president of the association, said the contractor should be held responsible only if he had failed to use cement and steel in accordance with the first technical design sanctioned by government agencies.
“However, the association will not protect anybody if he had failed to abide by the provisions in the approved technical design,” he added.