More flyover delays

It is bumpy ride for road projects
By S. Kushala/Times News Network


Bangalore: Things get worse before they get better.

Work on the flyover and underpass projects has been going on for over a year but with no definitive signs of meeting deadlines. And the busy junctions where these projects have been taken up are a traffic nightmare, a maze of roads that leads you nowhere.

The BCC and BDA are currently tasked with four flyovers, an underpass and a pedestrian subway. But these are bogged down in endless inter-department squabbles, shifting of utilities, project redesigning, cost escalation, change in construction pattern and the recent elections.

For instance, the BDA started its three flyovers — at the intersection of Airport Road and Intermediate Ring Road; Dairy Circle; and on Bannerghatta Road — in February 2003 and was to have completed them by April 2004. Now, the deadline has been revised to March 2005.

BDA engineer-member C.R. Ramesh said the authorities faced several problems once the work began — be it shifting of utilities which took longer time or redesigning the Bannerghatta flyover because of the high water table in the area.

“The soil conditions are poor on Bannerghatta Road. The project is an integrated flyover with a loop and an underpass and the high water table is obstructing the construction of underpass. Hence, we are redesigning it.’’

The rise in steel price too caused delay; the contractors found it difficult to mobilise additional funds and now the BDA is lending advances to hasten the process.
Another problem is feud within the UP Bridges’ Corporation, which is executing the three flyovers. Officials said: “The chief engineer in the Corporation is replaced frequently and internal bickering are affecting the progress of work. Though the BDA commissioner has convened meetings with the higher-ups in the organisation, the matter has not seen any improvement.’’

Similarly, work on the controversial National College flyover is moving at a snail’s pace, thanks to the elections and widespread protests. Work on the Rajajinagar underpass gathered momentum only after the BCC could acquire a chunk of land belonging to a private textile mill. The project is slated for completion by November.

A small correction: Things don’t get better any sooner than they get worse; they remain worse longer than the city can endure.