VACB books five for flyover flaws

Kochi: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Monday registered an FIR against five persons in connection with the suspected corruption in the construction of the Palarivattom flyover. It is learnt that the accused include officials of Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala Limited (RBDCK), KITCO and contract company RDS.

This was after the VACB Ernakulam district unit submitted a preliminary inquiry report, which pointed out numerous flaws in the construction of the flyover, to VACB director Anil Kant. According to VACB officials, sufficient evidence was collected during the preliminary probe.

Following this, the Vigilance director ordered the Ernakulam unit to register an FIR. The VACB officials had earlier collected samples from the flyover for examination at the Highway Engineering Laboratory. They also quizzed the contractor, officials of PWD, RBDCK and KITCO, the consultants of the project, as part of the inquiry.

The flyover was closed on May 1 after cracks were found at different parts of the bridge and a flaw in its construction was detected. Initially, it was planned to close the bridge for 30 days. Later, an IIT team visited the bridge and decided to close it for three months. The initial examination found cracks on girders and pier caps caused reportedly due to inadequate usage of cement and steel.

The RBDCK constructed the flyover in 2016 at a cost of `47. 7 crore.