In a major announcement on Monday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the controversial Palarivattom flyover bridge in Ernakulam will be demolished and reconstructed under the supervision of E Sreedharan, popularly known as India's "Metro Man". This is being done after a team of experts in October 2018 detected cracks on the girders and pillars of the flyover. The flyover has been shut since May this year.
Addressing the media on Monday, Pinarayi Vijayan announced that the reconstruction of the flyover will be supervised by Sreedharan, the Principal Advisor of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
“The decision to demolish the bridge and reconstruct it was taken after a discussion with E Sreedharan, and after examining the report submitted by IIT Madras,” stated the Kerala CM. He added that as per the report by IIT Madras team that had examined the flyover, merely repairing the bridge will not be a permanent solution as doubts regarding how long the bridge will stand persist.
According to Pinarayi Vijayan, Sreedharan had recommended for the complete reconstruction of the bridge rather than renovating or strengthening the existing bridge. The former seems to be the only viable option both technically as well as economically, he said. The Kerala CM did not delve into the reasons pointed out by Sreedharan as to why a new bridge is the better option.
“The construction of the flyover will be taken care of by a reputed company under the supervision of various experts, although the overall supervision of the project will be done by Sreedharan,” Pinarayi said, adding that the construction will begin by the first week of October. The state government is expecting it to be completed within the span of one year.
The controversy over the Palarivattom flyover had become a political battle between the ruling LDF government and the UDF, which is in Opposition in the state, as the construction of the flyover had begun during the UDF government’s reign in 2014 under the then CM Oommen Chandy. The flyover was then opened for operation in 2016 under the LDF government, following which the Rs 47.7 crore structure was shut on May 1, 2019.