Funds not yet approved for new commuter flyover at Bambalapitiya Railway Station

The Presidential Secretariat had not yet approved funding to build a new commuter flyover at the Bambalapitiya Railway Station, State Development and Design Corporation Chairman Kushan Devinda told journalists on Friday.

The pedestrian flyover at the Bambalapitiya Railway Station is dilapidated, and poses a serious threat to the lives of the public. On 10 October, under President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s directives, President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake instructed the Transport and Highways Ministry Secretary M.M.P.K. Mayadunne to take immediate measures to construct a temporary access way to the Bambalapitiya Railway Station.

A permanent flyover is to be established within five months at a cost of 50 million rupees. Earlier in the day, Bandula Gunawardane, Minister of Transport and Highways, declared open the temporary access way. He said that there are 30 more flyovers in dilapidated condition in the country and that they pose a threat to the safety of people and vehicles that use them. “It will cost two billion rupees to renovate these 30 bridges. But we don’t have money,” he said. (RK)