KOCHI: Imagine Kochi with four cloverleaf flyovers in its four busiest junctions.In a novel concept that could substantially bring down the traffic congestion in the city, officials are thinking about constructing cloverleaf flyovers at four junctions - Edappally, Palarivattom, Vyttila and Kundannoor.“The cloverleaf flyovers can be built on a public-private-partnership (PPP) model in which those affected by the project can be given a stake in it. As a measure to support those who provide land for the project, the flyovers can have multi-storey buildings which can provide residential spaces for the affected people,” the officials said.“Also, there can be commercial spaces, parking facilities and even playgrounds. Those affected by the project will benefit from it,” they pointed out. The concept has already been presented to Union Minister K V Thomas by C Kandasamy, director-general (Road Development), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. If needed, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) can be constituted with the participation of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and various state government agencies, Kandasamy said.If cloverleaf flyovers are built, there will not be any need to collect toll, the officials said. The duration for implementing the project and the cost can be finalised based on the structure being constructed at each place.“There will not be any need to displace people for the project. They will be shifted to the residential spaced inside the cloverleaf. Also, if anyone is not interested in providing his property, the cloverleaf can be built without taking that portion,” they said.The officials of various state and Central government agencies, including the NHAI and the National Highways Department, have started brainstorming on various aspects of the project, which has been successfully implemented in Japan and many other parts of the world.
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