Palarivattom Flyover is considered to be one of the most notorious scams in the history of Kerala Public Works Department. The scam exposed the alleged nexus between politicians, bureaucracy and contractors.
Palarivattom flyover is a poorly-built infrastructure project at the Pipeline Junction in the National Highway 66 Bypass in Kochi. The flyover was later shut down in May 2019, just three years after its commissioning, following the development of cracks on the structure. The cracks on pier caps of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 10th and 12th pillars of the flyover were reported. [1] Subsequently, the state government entrusted a specialist team from IIT Madras to study about the structural stability of the flyover. [1] [2] The state government also appointed E. Sreedharan, the Metro engineer, to investigate the flyover. Both committees reported that the flyover had weak stability. The state of the flyover was so bad that renovation of the structure was insufficient and therefore it had to be demolished and then rebuilt. [3]
The Palarivattom flyover was built during the second Oommen Chandy ministry (2011–16). [4] Indian Union Muslim League leader V. K. Ebrahim Kunju was the then PWD minister. [4] The 750-metre flyover was supposed to last over 100 years. [4] The total construction cost of the flyover was Rs 47 crore. [3] The cost rises to Rs 79 crore if the cost of land acquisition is included. [1] Separate probes by the Vigilance and the IIT Madras teams found that the contractor had not used sufficient construction materials in the construction of the flyover. Vigilance officials have hinted at a conspiracy behind the release of mobilisation advance to the contractor by the PWD department. [5] According to the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), the RBDCK officials released an advance amount of Rs 8.25 crore to the builder in violation of norms. It is alleged that the officials did this per Kunju's recommendation. [6] [7]
The third and the fourth accused in the case, Benny Paul and TO Soorej respectively, are charged for abusing their official positions as public servants and thereby providing advantage to Sumeet Goyal (accused number one) and incurring loss to the state government. [8] The remand report submitted by the investigation officer on August 30, 2019, also states that ‘there is every reason to believe that all the accused persons gained undue pecuniary advantage in the work of the flyover which is a sub standard one". [8]
The investigating team of Vigilance had also conducted a separate quality check on the construction of the flyover. Tests were conducted to analyse the strength of the concrete at the Kerala Highway Research Institute's laboratory. [8] It verified that ‘out of the samples taken from six girders of the flyover, only samples of two girders met the required concrete strength. Samples taken from two pier caps and piers also failed to meet the expected concrete strength". [8]
Sumeet Goyal, the first accused and contractor had misappropriated the ‘mobilization advance’ fund amount of Rs 8.25 crore to meet his personal financial crisis. He then later compromised on the quality of the construction of flyover. [8] MT Thankachan, the second accused and the former assistant general manager (RBDCK) helped the contractor by intentionally selecting his bid even though it lacked sufficient documents to prove criteria of the contractor. [8] He also did not inform other bidders about the provision of mobilization advance. [8]
Along with RBDCK, which was directly in charge of the project, the project had appointed KITCO as the consultant of the flyover construction.
It was KITCO's responsibility to evaluate the technical report prepared by RBDCK and further prepare a Detailed Project Report of the project. [8] The technical report prepared by RBDCK lacked certain necessary documents, and the third accused Benny Paul, who is the joint general manager of KITCO, did not reject the project proposal. [8] Benny Pau had recommended RBDCK for the construction of the flyover. Benny Paul is accused for not properly monitoring the work as well. [8] Vigilance report also indicates the criminal conspiracy between Sumeet Goyal, MT Thankachan and Benny Paul. [8]
TO Soorej, the fourth accused in the case, at the time of implementation of the project was holding the office of secretary at PWD and member secretary of Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB). [8] Kerala Road Fund Board was the funding agency of this project. As per the agreement of the project, 30 percent of the ‘running bill’ – issued by contractor on completion of part of the work – can be deducted as recovery of mobilization advance given during the beginning of the project. [8] But as per the vigilance report, TO Soorej had given a direction to KRFB stating that only 10 percent of running bill needs to be deducted. [8] This has caused a huge loss to the public exchequer. [8]
Sooraj alleged that it was the then PWD minister V K Ebrahim Kunju who ordered to give advance without interest. [6] On 5 February 2020, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan had granted permission to prosecute former PWD minister and Muslim League leader VK Ebrahim Kunju MLA in the Palarivattom flyover scam. Further, the vigilance and anti-corruption bureau had interrogated V. K. Ebrahim Kunju and raided his residence.
The vigilance had levelled charges, including corruption, conspiracy and misuse of funds against : [1] [8] [15]
The vigilance has questioned 29 witnesses in the course of the investigation.
Two police officers were suspended by Vigilance Director Anil Kanth after an investigation found them guilty of trying to sabotage Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau probe into the Palarivattom flyover corruption case involving former PWD Minister V K Ebrahim Kunju. [16] [17] A Ashok Kumar, the former investigating officer of the case and the Vigilance Ernakulam unit DySP along with Fort SHO K K Sheri was suspended. [16] Ashok Kumar was found to be taking soft on Ebrahim Kunju despite having strong evidences against the former minister. [16] K K Sheri, the SHO had acted as a mediator between the accused minister and the DySP. [16]
On September 28, 1984, a movie titled Panchavadi Palam was a major hit in Kerala. Filmmaker K G George, made this political satire, one of the best in Malayalam cinema, on a theme that involves the destruction of a bridge, shortly after its inauguration. [28] As a metaphor for endemic corruption, the collapse of Palarivattom flyover invited close comparisons with Panchavadi Palam in Kerala's public sphere. [29] Ironically, the demolition of Palarivattom flyover also happened 36 years after the film release, but on another September 28. [29] [30]
In a serious remark, the Kerala High Court referred the badly constructed Palarivattom flyover to popular Malayalam film "Panchavadi Palam". [31] The film appears to have turned true in the case of the Palarivattom flyover, the court observed, indicating the deal among politicians, bureaucracy and contractor. [31]
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Edappally flyover is a flyover in the city of Kochi in Kerala, India. It starts from NH 66 at Lulu Mall and ends at Edappally church on the Edappally- Palarivattom road. It was constructed as a part of the Kochi Metro works to decongest the Edappally junction where the two national highways meets. The flyover was opened to public in September 2016.