Adanis Should Have Taken Over Pumpwell Flyover Instead of Mangaluru Intl Airport?

Adanis should have taken over Kankanady Pumpwell Flyover instead of Mangaluru International Airport?-they could have completed the project

Mangaluru: Since our number One MP of Dakshina Kannada Nalin Kumar Kateel couldn’t handle the completion of Kankanady Flyover since eight years, he would have at least proposed the names of Ambani’s or Adani’s to the Central government run by PM Narendra Modiji to take over the remaining work of the Flyover- and surely the government would have approved Adani group to take charge to complete the long-pending flyover project. And if Adani’s would have taken over this project, the Flyover would complete soon?

With MP Kateel in the past giving so many deadlines of the completion of this Flyover, none have been true. His latest assurance was that the Flyover would be open by December 2018, and then he made one more promise that for sure the flyover would be inaugurated on 28 February 2019 by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari- and that too didn’t materialize. “Due to certain circumstances, the inauguration of Pumpwell Flyover which was supposed to be held on 28 February 2019 has been postponed to a later date??”.

Today, 28 February instead of Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari showing up for the said flyover inauguration, his secretary Vaibhav Dange had arrived in Mangaluru to inspect the progress in the work of Pumpwell flyover. Dange who was accompanied by MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and MLA of Mangaluru South Constituency Vedavyas Kamath, after inspecting the flyover, gave a deadline to the Navyug company to complete the Pumpwell flyover work by May 2019. He also directed the concerned authorities to make sure traffic moves smoothly without any snarls or accidents until the project is completed. So here we have yet another promise date of the completion of the flyover by May 2019- will it happen will be a question mark?

In the meantime, DYFI state president Muneer Katipalla had lashed out at MP Nalin Kumar Kateel for not keeping up his promises, saying that due to the irresponsible and inefficient MP, several highways have turned death traps for pedestrians and commuters. He also highlighted the incomplete Pumpwell and Thokkottu flyovers, illegal toll collection in Suratkal, abruptly stopping B C Road-Gundya four-lane road works as the MP’s failures. “The so-called number one MP as addressed by his supporters has failed to raise issues related to Dakshina Kannada in New Delhi. He has also failed to stand in solidarity with the public in issues related to Vijaya Bank merger, Mangaluru port and airport privatization,” alleged Muneer Katipalla.

And in spite of various controversies that has surrounded the Pumpwell Flyover, which has  not been completed for nearly eight years, there is yet another issue raised by a team of local activists belonging to the ‘Forum for Justice’, where they say that the flyover has violated the international and national standard specifications by being constructed much lower than the permissible height. Even though the flyover was supposed to be inaugurated today, 28 February 2019 by Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, and since that didn’t happen, due to non-completion of work, the concerned authorities have to deal with this flyover height issue, which will probably take some more extra time.

In the meantime, DC Sasikanth Senthil had said that when the matter was taken up with the NHAI officials, they claimed the flyover to be as per the Institute of Road Transport (IRT) standards, suggesting no changes were likely to be made. While there have been various promises made by MP Nalin Kumar Kateel about the inauguration of this flyover, but looking at the way the work is progressing with a few workers at the helm of the project, it may take another few months or years to get this flyover completed.

Isn’t it strange that a flyover has taken over 8 years and still not completed, while one of the world’s marvels ‘Eiffel Tower’ took only 2 years to build; and the tallest building in the world Burj Khalifa in Dubai took around 5 years to build (vertically). But people from NHAI cannot complete a work of a flyover which is 300 -500 meters long even after 8 years. Big Thumbs Up to the smart engineers! All we have to do is to keep our fingers crossed until the FINAL Flyover inauguration date is confirmed 100% sure?

Also Read Related Articles:

• Not Smart! Constructing Pumpwell Flyover with Height of 4.5 mts, when Legally it should be 5.5 mts
• NH 66 in Shambles? Travel between Pumpwell-Thokkuttu is a Nightmare for Commuters/Motorists