Rain derails City projects

Rain derails City projects

Deccan Herald

Schedules have gone awry and delay has become inevitable. Does it also mean that civic woes have multiplied?

A lull in rains may have restored the smiles on Bangaloreans’ faces, but its still taxing times for the civic fathers.

The hostile weather has cast a shadow on several projects taken up by various public utility departments. Among them, the Rs 400-crore, World Bank-funded project to repair storm water drains in the City by the Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BMP) has been one of the worst-hit. Work has been suspended at the three major valleys – Koramangala, Challaghatta and Vrishabhavathi – due to water-logging.

Thanks to the extended monsoon, even deadlines given to various packages under the remodelling project, varying between June 2006 and April 2007, are likely to be delayed. “Schedules may be affected but we will not incur financial losses, as we have included monsoon-related expenditure in our budget,” explained Puttamaligaiah, Executive Engineer (Infrastructure) of BMP.

Flyovers

The ongoing work on flyovers has also been hampered. Bangalore Development Authority Commissioner M N Vidyashankar said there would be no change in the work schedule, though.

“Construction work at Jayadeva flyover, Anand Rao Circle flyover and Airport Road flyover have been affected, but we are committed to end the work on time,” Mr Vidyashankar said.

Work at the Devanahalli International Airport has been disrupted for the last two weeks. The foundation work taken up at the airport terminal area has been abandoned. Even digging and filling work for the construction of the runway has been put on hold.

“We are going to make some internal adjustments to make up for the delay,” said Infrastructure Secretary Vinay Kumar.

Railways

The Railways, too, are making some “internal adjustments”. Thanks to the incessant rains, the focus has shifted from “beautification to checking water-logging”.

Railways stations in Bangalore City, Bangalore Cantonment, K R Puram and Yeshwantpur are all set to get a facelift. But as things stand now, the workforce is being utilised to ensure the safe running of trains, said Mahesh Kumar, Divisional Manager, Railways.

The Public Works Department had promised to upgrade the Bangalore-Mysore Road by early October. There is still no sign of repair, though.

“The asphalting work has been stopped because of the rains,” said PWD Secretary Sukumar.

However, these are busy days for BWSSB and Bescom, who have been restoring water and electricity connections in the rain-affected areas. “Our employees are patrolling the flood-prone areas. Fifty poles have been replaced in the last fortnight,” said Vasanth Kumar, Director (Technical), Bescom.

Meanwhile, Khandappanavar, Additional Chief Engineer (Maintenance), BWSSB, said the department had cleared over 60 manholes in the last few days.