Palarivattom Flyover Scam

Palarivattom flyover is a shoddily built infrastructure 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 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. Shreedharan, the Metro engineer to investigate the flyover. Both the committee's reported the weak stability of the flyover. The state of the flyover was so bad that renovation of the structure was insufficient and therefore it had to be demolished and then rebuild.[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 will rise 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 building 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 as per the recommendation of then PWD minister V K Ebrahim Kunju.[6][7]

V. K. Ebrahim Kunju, the former PWD minister

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]

• 2014: The flyover construction began under Congress led UDF government in Kerala.[8]
• October 16, 2016: The 640 metre flyover was inaugurated in Kochi.[2][1]
• May 1, 2019: The flyover was shutdown after major flaws were detected in the structure.[1]
• February 5, 2020: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan granted permission to prosecute former PWD minister and Muslim League leader VK Ebrahim Kunju MLA in the Palarivattom flyover scam.[9]
• February 29, 2020: The vigilance and anti-corruption bureau interrogated V. K. Ebrahim Kunju.[10]
• March 9, 2020: The Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau conducted raids the residence of V K Ebrahim Kunju in Kochi.[11]
• June 2020: A team from Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) inspected the Palarivattom flyover.[1]
• July 2020: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) submitted a report to the state government recommending urgent action to reinforce the structure, particularly the supporting pillars, to avoid collapse.[1]
• September 22, 2020: The Supreme Court allowed Kerala state to reconstruct the flyover, taking into account the public safety aspect.[12] Earlier the Kerala state government had approached the Supreme Court after the High Court ordered a load test to be conducted before the decision to demolish the flyover.[12]
• September 28, 2020: The demolition of the flyover began at 9 am in the morning.[13]

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][14]

1. V K Ebrahim Kunju, the Former Minister of PWD.
2. T O Sooraj, Former Secretary, Public Works .
3. Sumit Goyal, Former Managing Director of Kerala Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organisation (KITCO)
4. P D Thankachan, General Manager, Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala Limited (RBDCK).
5. Benny Paul, the Joint General Manager of KITCO (which provided technical expertise for this project).

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.[15][16] 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.[15] Ashok Kumar was found to be taking soft on Ebrahim Kunju despite having strong evidences against the former minister.[15] K K Sheri, the SHO had acted as a mediator between the accused minister and the DySP.[15]

• Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced the rebuilding of Palarivattom Flyover under the supervision of ‘Metro Man’ and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Principal Advisor E Sreedharan.[17][18] The reconstruction work will be undertaken by Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS) Ltd.[19]
• On September 28, 2020 the first phase of flyover demolition was initiated.[20][21] The rubble and other materials of the demolished bridge was transported to Chellanam.[13] The material was used for preventing sea erosion at the shore.[13][19]
• On October 2, 2020 the second phase of flyover demolition was initiated.[22] It included the cutting of concrete slabs from the spans.[22][23]
• In an order issued on October 7, 2020 the state government directed the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala Limited (RBDCK) to take necessary steps to recover the cost of reconstruction from the original contractor.[24] Subsequently, the RBDCK decided to recover cost of Palarivattom flyover reconstruction from RDS Projects.[25]
• The demolition and reconstruction work of the bridge is estimated to cost Rs 18.71 crore.[13]
• Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said that they are not seeking any government funding for the work as they will be using the fund available with DMRC from earlier contracts.[24]
• It is expected to be completed in eight months.[13][4][26]

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 Mollywood, on a theme that involves the destruction of a bridge, shortly after its inauguration.[27] As a metaphor for endemic corruption, the collapse of Palarivattom flyover invited close comparisons with Panchavadi Palam in Kerala's public sphere.[28] Ironically, the demolition of Palarivattom flyover also happened 36 years after the film release, but on another September 28.[28][29]

In a serious remark, the Kerala High Court referred the badly constructed Palarivattom flyover to popular Malayalam film "Panchavadi Palam".[30] 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.[30]