The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) has constituted a special team to carry out a detailed inquiry into the flaws in the construction of the Palarivattom flyover.
The VACB launched the inquiry on Tuesday, which was marked by the inspection of the flyover by a team of officials led by K. Karthik, Superintendent of Police, VACB, Central Range.
“We received the government order for an inquiry by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau into the construction of the Palarivattom flyover today [Tuesday] and we straight away launched a detailed inquiry. We constituted a team of officials to specially look into this case and to speed up the inquiry as soon as possible.
The inquiry will be wrapped up in a month,” Mr. Karthik told The Hindu .
Since the VACB will have to get insights into technical matters like the design and construction and assess whether any substandard materials were used, the agency is set to take the opinion of experts, including engineers, before reaching a conclusion.
“If any corruption is involved or any defect is detected in the construction, the reason for which turns out to be some mala fide intention on the part of the government officials or the contractors, then we will immediately register a case. Everything will be decided after the detailed inquiry and the evidence we have before us. If we come across any criminal intention, then immediately a case will be registered without any further probe,” Mr. Karthik said.
The flyover remains closed after flaws in its construction were detected. Though initially it was held that the flyover will be opened after a month, an IIT team that inspected the bridge recently felt that at least three months would be needed for the repair works.
An initial examination found that the girders and pier caps developed cracks reportedly due to inadequate usage of cement and steel. The flyover, which was built by the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation Kerala at a cost of ₹ 47.70 crore, was thrown open for traffic in 2016.
