The commissioning date of the Vyttila flyover has been extended yet again to 31 August, exceeding the original date of May 2019 by 15 months.
Similarly, the PWD has set June 30 as the revised date to commission the Kundannoor flyover. The structure was scheduled to be commissioned in March this year. The expected three-month delay in readying Kundannoor flyover has been attributed to change of design on the southern side.
The expected 15-month delay in completing the Vyttila flyover could have been avoided if the contracting firm and officials supervising the project were more diligent in their work, PWD sources said.
“Aimed at speeding up work on the two structures, the contracting firms have been directed to erect countdown boards mentioning the revised deadlines, on both sides of the flyovers.
“The PWD which is in charge of the Vyttila flyover and the RBDCK (a PWD subsidiary) which is partnering with the department in constructing the Kundannoor flyover, both of which are located on NH Bypass, have also been directed to upload photographs of the structures on their websites. This is aimed at apprising members of the public about the progress of works and to hold stakeholders accountable, in order to ensure that they adhere to the revised deadlines to complete the six-lane structures,” higher authorities in PWD said.
The site engineers and contracting firms have agreed to adhere to the deadline. One more slab has to be concreted at Vyttila. This would be followed by completion of the flyover’s approach portion on the Palarivattom side, said an engineer of the PWD (NH wing).
The work suffered inordinate delay due to the long time taken to complete slip roads on the Palarivattom side to divert vehicles when the retention walls of the approach were built. The slip roads were readied only in April, although they were to be readied in early 2019.
Lockdown
Both the flyovers could have been completed as had been scheduled, well before the COVID-19 lockdown began, but for apathy of officials and contractors, reiterated a senior PWD official.