The Vadakkenchery flyover on National Highway 544 has become a symbol of structural failure and administrative apathy, having been dug up and patched a shocking 120 times since it was opened to traffic in February 2021. Despite severe disruptions to daily commuters and mounting risks of accidents, neither the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) nor the private concessionaire company has taken effective measures to resolve the crisis permanently.

The current round of repair work, which commenced in May last year, is dragging on with no end in sight. To facilitate these sluggish restoration works, traffic heading towards Palakkad has been restricted to a single lane. Temporary plastic barricades placed to divide the lanes between Diana Junction and Royal Junction have instead turned into hazards, often being blown over by strong winds and causing accidents on the busy highway stretch.

Unscientific construction and structural concerns
Locals and transport associations point to unscientific construction as the root cause of the endless cycle of repairs. The recurring work involves placing steel plates on the expansion joints of the overpass and covering them with concrete, but these patches crumble within weeks of being reopened to traffic. Fresh cracks have already surfaced on joints that were repaired only recently. Disturbingly, motorists report that the entire bridge shakes violently and emits loud noises whenever heavy container trucks and buses pass over it.

No action despite high-level intervention
A fortnight ago, a high-level meeting was held at the Palakkad Collectorate, where public representatives, NHAI officials, and toll company executives discussed the urgent need to expedite the work and restore normal traffic. However, nothing has changed on the ground. Thousands of vehicles, including multi-axle cargo trucks, cross this flyover every day. With the structural integrity of the bridge now in question, demands are growing louder for an independent probe by a panel of structural experts to prevent a major tragedy.