The Kerala Government Contractors Association has blamed the government for the delay in reopening the damaged Palarivattom flyover.
The government was trying to put the liability on the contractor on clauses not coming under the purview of the construction agreement. The contractor had already re-laid the bituminous layer, replaced the bearings and the deck continuity joints with strip seal joints as suggested by the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala. He was also ready to resolve the issue of cracks on girders as per the methodology recommended by IIT Madras, said a release issued by the association here.
Metroman criticised
Varghese Kannampally, president of the association, alleged that the recommendation by ‘Metroman’ E. Sreedharan to replace RCC girders with PSC girders was not part of the agreement. Hence, the contractor need not bear the expenses required for it. There was no scientific basis to the position taken by Mr. Sreedharan that the flyover would not have a lifespan of 100 years if the girders were rectified based on the recommendations made by IIT Madras, he said.
The association representatives criticised the government decision to hand over the repair and rehabilitation of the flyover to DMRC, stating that it lacked the expertise to undertake the work.
