Infrastructure projects in limbo

Infrastructure projects in limbo
The Times of India

Bangalore: When it rains, life in Bangalore comes to a standstill. Well, we all know that. But then work on infrastructure projects — those not on paper — gets affected too.

Take for instance, work on the Ananda Rao circle flyover by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA). The project is supposed to have been ready by November 14, but work was held up for the past 10 days, sources said. “Quite a bit of the concreting work has been washed away,’’ they said.

BDA is also having trouble with work on the flyover at the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology.”There has been severe waterlogging at the site. We have not been able to work properly,’’ sources admitted.

Even when it does not rain, delays and controversies have gone handin-hand with the BDA’s flyover projects. In fact, a couple of months ago, citizens went on protest near the Airport Road flyover because they were fed up with the slow pace of work there.

The pace of water works have been delayed too: The recent rain exposed the lack of infrastructure at the city’s outerlying places — especially in its City and Town Municipal Council (CMC/TMC) areas. Not only have these places been swamped with water and sewage, work has also slowed on the BWSSB’s Greater Bangalore Water Supply and Sanitation Project (GBWASP). The project, in the making for three years already, is meant to supply 135 million litres per day (MLD) of Cauvery water to the CMC/TMC areas. These places presently depend solely on borewell water.

The water supply component of the project started a while ago and laying of water pipelines is on. But sources said only 40 per cent of the work is over.

Asked about the progress on the flyover projects, BDA Commissioner M N Vidyashankar insisted that all deadlines will be met. “I reviewed the Ananda Rao circle work on Thursday and we can make up the delay,’’ he maintained. The Airport Road Circle project will also be ready by March 2006. “We plan to squeeze in more work between November and February,’’ Vidyashankar said. Light at the end of tunnel: The rain may have dampened the BDA’s flyover projects, but the agency does see a little sunshine on the horizon. For one thing, it expects a judgment on the Arkavathy Layout case in the next couple of days. The project has been in limbo after BDA appealed against a single-judge bench judgement this April which quashed DA’s land acquisition for the layout.

The court case has stymied work on BDA’s Rs 490 crore Hi-Tech city project too. “Work will begin the minute the Arkavathy judgment is out,’’ Vidyashankar stressed.

But what if the ruling is not in BDA’s favour? Well, there will be some more delay, of course!