After failing to meet several deadlines on completing work on the flyover project at Pumpwell, concessionaire of the project Navayuga Udupi Tollway Private Ltd (NUTPL) and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) have given a fresh joint commitment to the Dakshina Kannada district administration on Tuesday that work will be completed by January 31, 2020.
According to the signed joint commitment, work on Thokkottu side of the flyover will be completed by January 15 and work on Karnataka Bank side of the flyover will be completed by January 30.
NUTPL director Ramesh Y. at a meeting with Nalin Kumar Kateel, Member of Parliament, and NHAI officials, said here on Tuesday that vehicular traffic will be allowed on the flyover on January 31 and the remaining associated works will be completed later.
Mr. Kateel said that earlier NUTPL had given in writing that the work would be completed by first week of January. But it has failed to keep it. Elected representatives and he as an MP had given the maximum cooperation to the company to complete the project. Earlier, it had been given four deadlines.
Mr. Ramesh and NHAI Mangaluru Office Project Director Shishu Mohan agreed at the meeting for external inspection of the timetable given by them to Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B. Rupesh. An engineer from the Public Works Department and a Tahsildar from the Revenue Department will monitor work to ensure this deadline is met, Mr. Kateel told the meeting.
Mr. Kateel said that when the company faced financial issues it was extended a credit of ₹ 56 crore from Axis Bank. An additional ₹ 6 crore to complete work on service roads was also given.
Mr. Ramesh blamed the delay for the prolonged monsoon season this year. “We cannot take up the work of compacting the soil laid for constructing the approach ramps to the flyover if the moisture content is more than 5 %-6 %,” he said.
Mr. Mohan admitted that the concessionaire had received all help from the authorities, including the MP, to ensure timely completion of works.
“Since this project was conceptualised on Build Operate and Transfer basis even before I was first elected MP, it is unfair on the part of the detractors to blame me despite my best efforts,” Mr. Kateel said.
The MP said that those who troll him on the social media for the delay of the project have the right to do so. But he as an MP has made sincere efforts to ensure that the project was completed at the earliest. He did not want to carry out a post-mortem on the issues which delayed the project by blaming others politically. The priority is to complete it at the earliest, he said.
