Flyover at Gandhipuram, a much-needed facility

SOLUTION IN SIGHT:The busy Gandhipuram Junction in the city where a flyover will be built to ease traffic congestion. 

The Rs.100-crore project for a flyover at Gandhipuram in the city, announced by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi at the valedictory of the World Classical Tamil Conference here on Sunday would provide a much-awaited solution to the traffic congestion at this point, Mayor R. Venkatachalam said on Monday.

“The flyover will be built with government funds and this will ease the burden on the Coimbatore Corporation,” the Mayor said.

The Corporation had planned four flyovers at intersections that witnessed traffic snarls for most part of the day. Apart from constructing one at Gandhipuram at Rs.127 crore, it identified Mettupalayam Road (Rs.87 crore), Kikani School (Rs.48 crore) and Lakshmi Mills Junction (Rs.54) for the three other flyovers, to be built under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

The Mayor said the mission directorate had asked the civic body to submit a revised detailed project report for these as it found the estimates in the first one high. “The revised reports are being prepared,” he said.

If the government funds the construction of the Gandhipuram flyover, it would provide a cushion to the Corporation, the Mayor said. “The funds the Corporation should have spent on it can be diverted to the other three flyovers projects,” he explained.

“As per the guidelines of the JNNURM, the Corporation has to meet 30 per cent of the cost of each project, while the Central and State governments will provide 50 per cent and 20 per cent respectively in the form of grants,” he said.

“But these are not the only flyovers that the city needs. When it expands over the next few years, more such facilities will be required to ensure smooth travel on city roads,” he said.