Project unlikely to take shape

Project unlikely to take shape
Deccan Herald

Will the Malleswaram residents succeed in what the Basavanagudi residents could not?

Built despite opposition from the Basavanagudi residents, the utility of the National College flyover is still under debate. A story on similar lines has been unfolding at Malleswaram over the last few weeks.

Senior engineers in the BMP speaking on condition of anonymity on Friday said that the Malleswaram Circle Grade Separator project is unlikely to take off in the near future.

The National College flyover has been a bad experience they said and also noted that if the Malleswaram project is stalled, the Yeshwanthpur grade separator project will also suffer.

The Malleswaram grade separator is to be located at the Malleswaram Circle (5th Cross intersection with Sampige Road).

Structure will run from the Police Station point to Geetanjali theatre.

This structure along with another at the Yeshwanthpur Cirlce are said to be part of an integrated traffic plan that began with the Rajajinagar Underpass and Modi Circle Grade Separator.

The government approved both the Malleswaram and Yeshwanthpur projects in February.

In mid-March ‘Malleswaram residents under the banner Malleswaram Swabhimanaa Initiative petitioned Chief Minister H D Kumaaraswamy against the Malleswaram Grade Separator project.

Though not giving any sort of assurance to the residents, the chief minister is understood to have forwarded their petition to the office of the chief secretary and the latter has reportedly forwarded it to the Urban Development department.

Rs 10-crore fund

The BMP budget for the year has allocated Rs 10 crore each for the Malleswaram and Yeshwanthpur projects.

When contacted on Friday, Bangalore Mahanagara Palike Commissioner K Jothiramalingam maintained that the Palike has not received any “contrary communication” (from the government after the project approval was received).

Queried on the tin shed that is seen at the project site of late, the Commissioner confirmed that soil tests are on at the site.

The Mahanagara Palike is yet to finalise the work contract on the project.

According to the BMP commissioner “the agreement is not yet signed (with the company that has bagged the tender), the performance guarantee payment is yet to be made.”

Objections

The Malleswaram Swabhimanaa Initiative has noted the following:

n The project was designed during the period when the Rajajinagar and Modi Hospital Grade Separators were under construction and has not taken into consideration the current traffic volume.

n The design of the structure has not taken into account the bottlenecks at the intersection of 5th Cross Margosa Road and 5th Cross-Link Road.

n How did the project cost escalate - from Rs 14 crores as projected in May 2005 to Rs 17 crores as projected in November 2005?