MANGALURU: Trolled incessantly on delay in completion of flyover at Pumpwell (Mahavir) Circle, DK MP Nalin Kumar Kateel on Sunday sought to set the record straight. While the project was indeed sanctioned in 2010 during UPA 2.0 and his first term as MP, Nalin said, the project took off only in 2016 during NDA 2.0 in his second term. The 6-year-delay, the MP said was due to failure of the state government to acquire the land needed for the project.Going further, Nalin told reporters after inspecting the ongoing work that consistent change of the project design by Mangaluru City Corporation to accommodate its bus stand project in front of Karnataka Bank head office, delay in demolition of buildings on the land acquired for the project and Navyug Udupi Tollway Pvt Ltd, project concessionaire going almost bankrupt only added to the delay. The delay technically is two-years and not eight, he surmised.Taking umbrage to the opposition in general and Congress in particular for striving to score political brownie points with this flyover project, Nalin said Congress should introspect on 14 years it took to construct a new bridge across the Nethravathi at Panemangalore. The UPA government headed by the Congress too took 13 years to complete the 4-lane Port Connectivity project from B C Road to Mukka, he said demanding an explanation for this.On the operational side, Nalin said the concessionaire notwithstanding what has transpired from 2010 to 2016, has since assured the National Highways Authority of India that the work on the Pumpwell flyover will be completed by end of January 2019. Likewise, work on the flyover at Thokkottu will be completed by end of next month, he said. “One can expect the vehicles to use these flyovers latest by early February 2019,” Nalin said.Project Director, NHAI, Mangaluru Z Samson Vijay Kumar said an underpass will be provided for light motor vehicles and pedestrians near Mahakali temple at Ujjodi. Since pre-cast concrete box technology will be used for the underpass, there will be no delays beyond February, he said. The inspection comes on the back of a directive given by DC Sasikanth Senthil S who on Saturday sought weekly progress report from NHAI on the two flyover projects.

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