New Delhi: In a curious development related to the Palarivattom flyover case, the government agency Kerala Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organisation (KITCO) has opposed the plea of the state government to the Supreme Court seeking permission to rebuild the structure.
In a counter affidavit filed before the apex court, KITCO even alleged that the state government’s petition had malicious intent.
The Vigilance in Kerala had earlier arrested a top official of KITCO, which was the consultancy firm in the Palarivattom flyover project, in a bribery case.
On February 7 this year, the Supreme Court, while considering an appeal by the state government against the order of the Kerala High Court to conduct a load test on the flyover, had directed that status quo be maintained. Following which, the load test as well as the government’s plan to rebuild the flyover did not take place.
Two weeks ago, the state government again approached the Supreme Court seeking sanction to start work on reconstructing the flyover. The court considered the matter and posted it to a date two weeks later for final arguments.
According to KITCO, the government’s new petition was intended to obtain a favourable order from the Supreme Court on a matter which was rejected by the High Court. The government is planning to start reconstruction of the flyover without conducting a load test, alleged KITCO. When the existing flyover is demolished for constructing a new one, the opportunity for conducting a load test would be lost, said the consultancy firm.
