Rajajinagar Underpass in 90 days

Rajajinagar Underpass in 90 days

Vijay Times

Bangalore: After missing several deadlines, the Bangalore Mahangara Palike (BMP) has given fresh deadlines to contractors -- SJR Infrastructure Private Ltd and Nagarjuna Construction Co Ltd -- to complete the Rajajinagar Underpass within 90 days.

The Rs 11.84-crore project at Rajajinagar Entrance involves construction of a four-lane grade separator from MEI Polytechnic to Rajajinagar Link Road (Vatal Nagaraj Road), improvement to Magadi Road and Okalipuram junctions, widening of roads and remodelling of drains.

This 262-metre two-way underpass will be similar to that of Mehkri Circle Grade Separator. More than 10,000 vehicles can pass through it every hour and eight buses can pass through alongside. Moreover, it will also enable passengers to reach Bangalore Railway Station and Central parts of the City faster.

Though the project was planned in November, 2002, the work began in December, 2002. Since then, two years have elapsed as against the scheduled time of completion of 18 months. The execution was delayed because of problems in land acquisition and presence of boulder in the middle of the road.

The BMP had acquired more than 2,740 sq.mt land from the proprietors of Ramkumar Mills, Rajajinagar paying Rs 4 crore. The land was handed over to the authorities even before it was notified by the State Government.

"About 95 % of the retaining wall and 60 % of parapet wall has been completed on the MEI side. Only asphalting of road is to be completed. On the other end, 50 % of retaining wall has been completed on the North side and 30 % on the South side. Tunnelling for the bridge will commence soon. Ten days of work is left for shifting the utilities on the North side. At any point of time, we will not stop the traffic," said BMP Assistant Engineer G C Shivkumar.

"This underpass will enable smooth flow of traffic from Vijayanagar, Rajajinagar and Tumkur side. But it gets clogged some 200 metres from here during the peak hours. This has to be sorted out. After the completion, this road will be made into two-way to ease traffic on the Malleswaram side," he said.