The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which owns the 16-km Edappally-Aroor NH Bypass, has shot off letters to the PWD (NH wing), expressing shock at the shoddy condition of roads at Vyttila and Kundannoor junctions where flyovers are being built.
“They have not repaired the roads, despite the impending monsoon season. We issued NOC to PWD in 2017 on the condition that the agency would maintain the NH and service roads at the two junctions in safe and motorable condition. We shot off half-a-dozen letters to the department when their condition deteriorated. The PWD has not replied to them, neither has tangible steps been taken to ensure safe and pothole-free roads, despite accidents and massive traffic snarls. Fed up with their apathy, we had to execute repair works in a few areas,” said a senior official of NHAI.
Another official spoke of how the PWD defaulted in executing preparatory works like raising service roads to the height of the NH Bypass and readying slip roads, especially at Vyttila. “They simply barricaded the two junctions, and as a result, vehicles — including buses and lorries — had to be diverted through the narrow service roads. This caused lasting damage to service roads, which were not designed for frequent movement of heavy vehicles.”
“The PWD did not repair roads at the junction, even after we repeatedly took up the issue with the District Collector. Neither has it completed Vyttila and Kundannoor flyovers which were to be commissioned in May 2019 and March 2020 respectively,” he added.
Drainage work
The relaxation in lockdown has resulted in vehicles jostling for space at the two ill-maintained junctions. Making matters worse, the PWD has begun drainage works on service roads in Vyttila, resulting in slabs being strewn around the ill-lit service road on the Palarivattom side.
An official associated with the work on the flyovers said that a cross-drain had to be built on the service road, for which work would begin in a day or two. On the shoddy condition of service roads and the NH Bypass at Kundannoor, he said the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) was partly to blame and permission of the court had been sought to resurface damaged parts.
“We will also take steps to repair undulations over the portion which was covered using paver blocks,” he said.
Sources in NHAI said that the PWD was responsible for maintaining traffic-diversion roads (the flyover-construction zone area) too in good condition, since vehicles were being diverted specifically for flyover works. “Never did we expect that the department would create such a mess of the two junctions which are used by over 1 lakh passenger car units (PCUs) every day,” they added.
