Airport Road flyover shows no sign of completion

Airport Road flyover shows no sign of completion
Vijay Times

EVEN as Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has directed the civic authorities to expedite works on the ongoing infrastructure projects in the City and complete them within the set deadlines, the completion of Airport Road flyover has raised doubts following the extension of deadlines twice earlier .

Will the Rs 26.69 crore Airport Road flyover project, taken up by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), be completed by August end this year as per the fresh deadline? Only time will tell.

"In order to expedite the delayed work, BDA engineers have been housed at the project site and the work is being carried out round the clock. The project will definitely be completed by Aug end," a senior BDA official told B BV VT T . When contacted, a Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation Ltd (UPSBCL) official said that a part of the flyover that connects Indiranagar and Koramangala will be thrown open to traffic by first week of June and the remaining by the end of August.

B BV VT T spoke to some of the regular road users who have been put to hardship because of the delay of the project.

The contract has been given to the wrong company . The UPSBCL is taking a lot of time to finish the project. Ultimately , it is the commuters who bear the brunt. The traffic diversions have led to a bumper-tobumper movement.

The situation worsens during a VIP’s visit as the roads are completely blocked. The materials used for flyover construction occupy most of the road. Driving a fourwheeler here is difficult and traffic moves at a snail’s pace. It’s high time the project is completed.

T o catch up on lost time, work on the flyover goes on round-theclock and this results in noise pollution even at night.

Frequent traffic jams during peak hours are common as vehicles have to be diverted due to the construction of a flyover . The authorities should expedite work on the flyover . It’s tough clearing traffic jams.


lThe inordinate delay in completion of the flyover, that connect Indiranagar 100 ft Road and Koramangala, has been an inconvenience to road users passing via Airport Road.

lUPSBCL, which bagged the contract for construction of the Airport Road flyover, began work in Feb 2003 and was supposed to be complete by April 30, 2004.

lHowever, the deadline was further extended to June 30, 2005 by BDA based on a request made by UPSBCL. Despite this, work was delayed by the corporation owing to technical problems.

lThe BDA, however, withdrew the contract as the UPSBCL had completed only 20 per cent of work even after the first deadline was extended by another year.

lWhile the BDA was planning to entrust the project to another organisation, UPSBCL filed a petition in the High Court, which resulted in the project coming to a halt for over six months.

lAs the High Court ruled in favour of the corporation, the contract was given back to the same company and the work resumed in August 2005.

lOnce completed, the flyover will help prevent traffic snarls on the Airport Road as it will be a signal free junction.