Chief minister Tarun Gogoi with his cabinet colleagues after inaugurating the final phase of the 364-metre flyover at Ulubari on Thursday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Sept. 16: To offset criticism over the inauguration of the Bisnuram Medhi flyover at Ulubari in double-quick time, the state public works department today promised to clear the mess under the structure within a month.

Speaking in the presence of chief minister Tarun Gogoi during the inaugural function of the flyover, PWD commissioner A.P. Borgohain pledged to complete the schemes under the flyover at the earliest.

The Telegraph today reported how the PWD, having failed to meet several deadlines over the past year, hurriedly announced the opening of the flyover, despite the service roads and footpaths remaining incomplete and leaks in underground pipes owned by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation and the urban water supply department.

Borgohain said service roads on either sides of the flyover could not be completed because of the leakage of water from the pipes. ?We have asked the authorities to repair the pipes so that the service roads could be built. Everything will be complete within a month, I assure you.?

Chief minister Gogoi said his government is trying to complete the Athgaon flyover within November. ?We will take all possible steps to give a facelift to the city,? he said.

Calling for speedy clearance of projects by the PWD to prevent delay and cost overruns, minister for welfare of plain tribes and backward classes, Bharat Narah said: ?The flyover will serve no purpose in the absence of service roads and footpaths.?

Sources in the traffic branch of city police said without the service roads vehicles bound for B. Barooah Road from Dispur would have to take the Kachari Basti Road, resulting in traffic snarls on the B.K. Kakoti Road. These roads have been bearing the brunt of a heavy traffic load during the construction of the flyover, so they need immediate repair, they added.

Apart from the connecting roads below the flyover, the space will also have a parking lot. Even the parking space could not be built because of the leakage of water from the underground pipes.