A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed a plea by the State Government for reviewing the court’s order to conduct a load test on the Palarivattom flyover for determining its structural stability and load-bearing capacity before demolishing it.
Dismissing the Government’s petition, the Bench comprising Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Justice A.M. Shaffique observed that no ground had been made out for reviewing the order.
The contention of the State government that no reasons had been stated in the order for conducting load test was absolutely baseless.
In fact, the necessity for conducting a load test had been specifically stated in the order.
Even in terms of the contract inked for the construction of the flyover, there was a clause for doing a load test which had been highlighted in the order.
In its order, the Bench had directed the State Government to do a load test in three months and file a statement along with the report of the test. It had also ordered the contractor, RDS Project Ltd., to bear the entire expenses for the test.
In its review petition, the Government argued that the load test was essentially a discretion of the State Government. The High Court ought to have considered that the Government had exercised the discretion by deciding against the load test based on cogent and compelling reasons.
Inconvenience to public
Expert opinions and reports obtained by the Government said that no useful purpose would be served by a load test as the flyover was already in a “distressed condition.”
Besides, it would take three months to conduct a load test and another nine months for repairs and replacement of the girders. It would inconvenience the public, the Government had submitted.
