Oommen Chandy flays Vyttila flyover design

KOCHI: The Vyttila flyover controversy which has been simmering for sometime has flared up with former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and former MP and CPM district secretary P. Rajeev joining issue on Monday. Mayor Soumini Jain and Hibi Eden, MLA, had the other day decried the current alignment of the flyover following the path of Metroman E. Sreedharan who blamed the PWD and its secretary T.O. Sooraj for not considering his proposals in this regard. Mr Rajeev wondered how the UDF leaders including Mr Chandy and the mayor get the morale and technical right to raise objections to the design of the flyover which was conceived and accepted during the tenure of the previous UDF Government.

"It was on September 5, 2014 that the preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) and site survey of the flyover were entrusted with Bangalore-based Nagesh Consultants. Their design was accepted and the NOC was obtained from the NHAI on February 16, 2016. Though no amount was sanctioned for the project, the then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy laid the foundation stone for the flyover. Ernakulam MLA Hibi Eden and Soumini Jain were witness to these," Mr Rajeev said in a statement here on Monday.

Mr Rajeev's statement came close on the heels of the opinion expressed by Oommen Chandy in the day that the current design of Vyttila flyover will be able to cater to the needs of only 30 per cent of the people using the Vyttila junction. "The Vyttila flyover issue should be seriously discussed and the suggestion of Metroman E. Sreedharan in this regard should be seriously considered. If the Vyttila flyover is not designed properly, it will become outdated in a few years from now and people will be put to untold miseries," Mr Chandy told mediapersons in Kochi on Monday morning.

Mr Rajeev while blaming the UDF Government and leaders, demanded the current LDF Government to complete its interventions for a solution in a time-bound manner and allay the concerns raised regarding the construction of the flyover. He also said that the concerns in this regard were presented before the Chief Minister and the PWD Minister even before the construction started. He said that the government decided to explore possibilities of ending the traffic troubles in the Kadavanthra-Tripunithura route in the light of this petition. Rajeev said that this initiative should be completed in a time-bound manner by taking into consideration the opinion of all sections of the society. He, however, added that solution should be found without hindering the construction of the flyover. He requested the PWD Minister to find a solution during his promised discussion in Thiruvananthapuram during Budget presentations with various sections.