Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who was scathingly critical of the previous UDF government and had initiated a Vigilance probe into the cracks on the 640-metre Palarivattom flyover, was surprisingly soft on the Centre and National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) after an elevated portion of NH 66 collapsed at Kooriyad in Malappuram and cracks developed along the NH stretches in Kannur and Thrissur.
“It is the responsibility of the centre and the NHAI, and they will naturally do their part. If there were technical errors during the construction, it will naturally be subjected to a serious examination. There is no need to fear that the entire NH is weak and would crumble. The NHAI has acquired the necessary technical expertise and, using this capability, it would be able to rectify the problems,” the Chief Minister said at the valedictory function of the LDF government’s fourth anniversary celebrations in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
“We will, of course, give our opinion about the developments, but we will continue to offer our full support to the work,” the CM added.
Pinarayi said that the Centre had already taken action, referring to the blacklisting of Hyderabad-based KNR Constructions and the suspension of officers. He seemed to rationalise such a delicate treatment of the Centre by making it look like a development enthusiast’s eagerness to get the work done despite the setbacks. “It would be in vain if anyone is building castles in the air about the NH work getting stalled as a result,” the CM said, a missive hurled at the UDF.
CPM State secretary M V Govindan, however, did not shy away from taking on the Centre. He was combative. “Many companies that have contracted the NH work are the ones that have paid money to the BJP through electoral bonds,” Govindan said. He suspected the connections behind the company (KNR Constructions) that did NH work in Malappuram. “The company is not transparent, and this should be probed,” Govindan said. However, both Pinarayi and Govindan ignored union minister Suresh Gopi’s allegation that the DPR of the NH project was repeatedly altered.
Opposition Leader V D Satheesan ridiculed the government’s stand. “The Palarivattom flyover did not collapse, and still the Pinarayi government slapped a Vigilance case against the minister (Muslim League’s V K Ibrahim Kunju). The very same government is now silent about the Centre. The government seems so forgiving that it feels that the NHAI only had to apply tar on the cracks,” Satheesan said. “The rains are going to intensify. Brace yourself for the bigger cracks,” the opposition leader said.
The other day, the CM had said that the “A to Z” of the responsibility for the NH was with the Centre. Former Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala termed this as an attempt to hide from liability. If the state government had no role, Chennithala wanted to know why the PWD minister Mohammad Riyas and his team had frequently visited the NH sites and put on a show in the name of expert scrutiny.
Chennithala said that the state government was splurging on social media ads claiming credit for the NH work. “The money for these ads is routed through KIIFB. The state government cannot excuse itself from the moral responsibility for the collapse of the NH stretches. It is for the state government to ensure the quality of roads,” Chennithala said.