Stany Bela

Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje

Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Feb 25: The following are the statements made by Dakshina Kannada Member of Parliament Nalin Kumar Kateel since the last two years. 

“Navayuga Pvt. Limited would complete the flyover work in Thokkottu by June 2017. The Pumpwell flyover will be completed 6 months after that. “

- Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP, May 3. 2017(Press meet)

“For the last 8 years we have given them many deadlines and the construction company agreed to adhere to the deadlines. Finally, the company itself declared that by the end of December 2017, they can finish the Pumpwell flyover and by the end of May 2018 they will complete Thokkottu flyover works.”

- Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP,  June 21, 2017 (Press meet)

“The officials of Navayuga Constructions Pvt Ltd have assured of completing the work on Thokkottu flyover by the end of December 2018, and that of the Pumpwell flyover by January end next year.”

- Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP -After conducting a review of the service roads at Talapady on 6 July 2018

“Agreeing that Navayuga Constructions Pvt Ltd, which is executing the project, had suffered from financial problems in between, but all these issues have been sorted now. Thokkottu flyover will be dedicated to the world in January and Pumpwell flyover by February 2019.”

- Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP, after visiting the flyover construction site on 18 November 2018.

“After the minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari had laid down the foundation stone for Pumpwell flyover, he would finally inaugurate it by the end of February, which will put an end to people’s wait. Union minister Nitin Gadkari himself will inaugurate the completed project. “

- Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP, on 15 January 2019 (Press meet)

Citizens of Mangaluru are so much accustomed listening to promises on the completion of Pumpwell and Thokkottu flyovers over the years, that they have taken to WhatsApp and social media to share memes and jokes on the same. 

However, recently the Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, who is known to set a spree of deadlines, finally stopped mentioning another month as the deadline. At the flagging event of new tri-weekly express train at Mangaluru central railway station, he admitted, “unfortunately Pumpwell and Thokkottu flyovers remain pending. On February 26, joint secretary will review the national highway and speedy work will be undertaken. By this year, Pumpwell and Thokkottu flyover will be completed.”

The latest statement by the MP on the flyover, again has become a talk of the town and majority believe he is struggling to defend himself over the apathy of union government. Proving this, in the same event he also tried to associate the slow pace of work to ‘Shani’ (bad fate). These statements indicate that he has completely failed to find out the actual reason for non-completion of work.

In a programme held at Kotekar recently, Kateel blamed the then local MLAs for the non-completion of Pumpwell and Thokkottu flyover works. But former MLA J R Lobo hit back at Nalin’s statements and challenged him to prove the allegations. Lobo even said if Nalin cannot prove with records, he invited him to prove the allegations by vowing in front of the deity whom Nalin believes. But Kateel decided to not take up the challenge and now blames ‘Shani’ for the non-completion of the flyovers.

The failed assurances and statements indicate that Kateel has lost control over the project and BJP leaders, who too are aware of the situation, have stopped defending him since the last one year.

Sources within the party reveal that there is group within BJP which points out MP’s failures and sidelines him.

While at national level the political trend is slowly changing towards Congress , the coastal district mood is still with BJP and Narendra Modi and the last elections proved the same. The political and administrational failures of Shobha Karandlaje and Nalin Kumar have become a concerning factor for the BJP. It is also learnt that the leaders of the party have already expressed their unhappiness on their failures on various party stages.

“Amit Shah has already made it clear that on the basis of progress card, the current MPs will get party tickets for contesting upcoming Lok Sabha elections. If the leadership is distributing the ticket based on high command’s order, definitely Nalin Kumar Kateel will not get the ticket. Same time we have better candidates who will be acceptable by all sections of people in the district. But if leadership goes with Nalin Kumar Kateel, it will force hardcore party workers to think twice before casting their vote,” says a BJP worker from Padil on the condition of anonymity.

What could add to the MP’s woes was the press meet by the Forum for Justice, held on February 21. The Forum alleged that the flyovers at Pumpwell and Thokkottu are unscientific.

“As per guidelines of National Highway Authority, the height of the flyovers on national highways should be 5.5 meters. But both flyovers are constructed by violating these guidelines. As per the chief engineer of project, the Pumpwell Flyover has a height of only 5.25 meters. A caution board near the flyover states that the flyover has a height of 4.5 meters. Six times container trucks have got stuck at this place,” highlights Forum for Justice president Dayanath Kotian.

As the project steps into its 10th year, the MP claims that the Pumpwell and Thokkottu flyover work will be completed this year. However, legal hurdles wait in case the flyovers are proved unscientific. Ultimately, it’s the people who end up waiting and suffering the traffic congestion.