PWD minister G Sudhakaran orders Vytilla flyover plan anew

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: PWD Minister G. Sudhakaran plans to bring the Vyttila flyover project costing Rs 113 crore under the  Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board and give it administrative sanction by June. Mr Sudhakaran is relaunching the project for which former chief minister Oommen Chandy had laid the foundation stone towards the fag-end of the UDF government’s tenure. The  National Highway Authority of India had already identified a consultant to prepare the DPR who has  given the report for the Kuttipuram-Edapally stretch on the National Highway - 66 (former NH- 17).  

“The LDF  government had cancelled several of the projects mooted by the Chandy government.  But now it is reviving the  same project after so much delay,”  said a senior PWD official. The estimate for the flyover  was Rs 90 crore in June  2015.  Now, the estimate has shot up to Rs 113 crore. The  officials feel that the inordinate delay of some 14 months could have been avoided by continuing the  work with the same momentum after  the foundation stone was laid by Mr Chandy. PWD officials say that the move to burden the KIIFB with development projects worth Rs 3,500 is wrong as they do not envisage the possibility of  more investments coming its way.