The Kerala government on Friday moved the Supreme Court for permission to start the reconstruction of the Palarivattom flyover at Kochi in Kerala.
The State has challenged the Kerala High Court order to first conduct a load test on the existing flyover after cracks started appearing on it within two years of its construction.
Kerala, represented by advocate G. Prakash, said the reconstruction project was notified on the basis of a a high-level technical committee report in October 2019. The committee had entirely accepted the proposal submitted by Dr. E. Sreedharan, the architect of the Delhi Metro. The government had already issued an offer submitted by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to take over the rehabilitation of the flyover.
“The proposal submitted by Dr. E. Sreedharan recommends re-construction and assures a service life of 100 years,” the State said.
The State pleaded urgency to the apex court, saying the damage to the flyover was extensive. Besides, the bridge was central to the smooth flow of traffic in the city. Any delta in the reconstruction would bring traffic in the entire city, the financial capital of the State, to a complete halt.
“There are about 2,100 cracks on the flyover and out of which 99 are having cracks of more than the tolerable limit of 0.3mm,” the petition said.
The State questioned the high court’s intervention in policy.
“Administrative decisions taken by the government on the subjective satisfaction of the issue, and that too based on experts reports, ought not to have been interfered by the high court,” the petition contended.
