Edappally flyover opens, assurance on underpass

KOCHI: The much awaited Edappally flyover has been opened for traffic on Sunday which is expected to ease traffic congestion at the busiest junction to a certain extent. In the absence of works minister G. Sudhakaran, education minister C. Raveendranath inaugurated the bridge. While addressing the gathering, the minister assured that he would take up the proposal for an underpass at Edappally with the chief minister, works minister and finance minister. The 433-metre long flyover structure has no joints and offers a smooth ride.

E. Sreedharan, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation principal advisor, and V.K. Ebrahim Kunju MLA stressed the need to have an underpass to smoothen the heavy flow of vehicles further. “The Rs 30 crore saved on the project should be used for it. The state government should immediately allocate additional funds required for the project,” said Mr Kunju. “The estimated cost for the structure was Rs 108 crore with Rs 54 crore each for land acquisition and the structure. Of this, Roads and Bridges Corporation provided Rs 25 crore while NH division of the public works department (PWD) gave Rs 55 crore. The total expenditure is only Rs 78 crore including the Rs 30 crore spent on rehabilitation of evictees. All evictees got proper rehabilitation,” said the former works minister.

Meanwhile, Mr Raveendranath claimed that the government had put in maximum efforts to provide adequate funds for the infra projects initiated by the previous administration, proposing projects worth Rs 50,000 crore. Mayor Soumini Jain sought the government’s intervention to realise some of the long drawn infra projects like Vyttila and Kundanoor flyovers, Goshree – Mamangalam Road, Thammanam – Pullepa-dy Road and Chakkara-parambu – Infopark Road.