It is a celebration more than ten years in the making. A parade of cultural troupes, with some people playing the chende (a drum used in Yakshagana), some others dressed as giant puppets and one person even dressed as Mr. Bean, turned the Pumpwell flyover in Mangaluru into a carnival. The flyover was inaugurated amid fanfare, more than 11 years since the letter of approval was granted for its construction in 2009. Over the last decade, it was a source of conflict between the Congress and the BJP in the coastal city. Ironically, the flyover, which has been built to ease the traffic logjam at the intersection of NH66 and NH55 was inaugurated at 9.37 am, which is about the same time the area faces heavy traffic due to people heading towards city to reach offices and educational institutions. According to a traffic policemen, the inauguration was delayed from the scheduled start at 9 am. “We were told to cordon the area until VIP’s leave and allow regular commuters after the inauguration was done,” a traffic policeman said.