Amid growing concern over the delay in the construction of the much-awaited Kanaka Durga flyover, contractors associated with the firm implementing the project say that the project will be ready by January 2017.
Going by the claims made by the ruling party leaders and bureaucrats, the project should have been completed almost a couple of months ago. But officials of the firm Soma Enterprise, said that as per the contract January 2017 was their deadline. “We are trying to complete a few works interlinked with Krishna Pushkarams by this month-end. Almost 80 per cent of the foundation works and 50 per cent of the superstructure have been completed. Formation of a road up to the bathing ghats will also be over by then. The remaining works will be carried out by December-January,” said a company official.
Six-lane flyover
The six-lane flyover, being built at a cost of Rs. 447 crore, starts at Kummaripalem and ends at the Rajiv Gandhi Municipal Park. Completion of the flyover by forthcoming Pushkarams in August is crucial since heavy influx of pilgrims from across the country will choke the route.
From the beginning, the project has been facing challenges. The foundation had to be redesigned thrice because of difficult geographical conditions. The geotechnical report submitted at the time of awarding the contract did not match with the actual conditions, said an official, adding:
“The design of the flyover is very complicated. It has almost six to eight curves and they are very steep in nature.” Besides the intermittent rains that led to the delay, another area of concern is the fact that works will have to be stopped a few days before the commencement of the river festival due to security reasons. “They want us to vacate the place for security reasons. We will be able to resume works only after Pushkarams and this has necessitated a catch-up plan to make up for the lost time,” said the official.
The flyover, initially designed by AECOM, an American design consultant, was sent to a proof-reading consultant, which, in turn, sent it to a safety consultant, who studied key aspects like vehicular and structural safety besides ensuring that it could resist natural calamities like earthquakes.
The plan was then assessed by the engineers of the Soma Enterprise Ltd, a company which develops core infrastructure projects, who submitted it to a technical authority consultant working under the National Highways.
The project design includes two vehicular underpasses and a pedestrian underpass, besides a subway in front of the Durga Ghat.
