Project dogged by delays

Project dogged by delays
By Fathima Sumaya Khan
Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance? says a famous adage. The officials responsible for the construction of a flyover at Bapujinagar seem to be following it very seriously.


Bangalore city has been selected for overall development of urban infrastructure under the Centre’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. So far the Centre has approved 13 works proposed by Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike. The Centre contributes 35 per cent of the total cost of these projects and remaining is shared by the State government and the Palike in the ratio of 15 pc and 50 pc respectively. The Centre started releasing first installment of its share for the work in December 2006. So far the Centre has released Rs 68.3 crore for urban infrastructure works. Deccan Herald has done a reality check on the status of important works taken up under the JUNURM. Today’s spotlight is on flyover at Bapujinagar.


The contractor to whom the flyover work was given, has handed it over to another and the latter is not carrying out his job properly. Since a part of the flyover is being constructed over a drain, it is a cumbersome task. It may take more than six months for the flyover to be ready. If it happens it will be a big boon to public, especially motorists.
V Somanna
Binnypet MLA

Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance? says a famous adage. The officials responsible for the construction of a flyover at Bapujinagar seem to be following it very seriously.

The Rs 19.2-crore flyover between the 3rd main road of Kavika Layout and the 5th cross of Maruthi Nagar has been approved under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Once completed, it is expected to ease traffic congestion on and around Mysore Road to a large extent.

Records available with Deccan Herald say that though the Centre is yet to release the first installment of its share of funds for the project, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has released its share of Rs 2.22 crore for the project.

Though the construction began in December 2006 and the flyover was to be completed in 12 months, a large portion of the work is still pending. Local residents are upset over the lethargy of contractors assigned by the Palike for construction of the flyover.

“The contractors entrusted with the project are lethargic in their approach. If some accountable companies were given this responsibility, I am sure they would have performed better and the work would have completed as per the schedule,” said K Krishna who owns Om Sai Ram Enterprises in the area.

Besides contractors’ lethargy, rain has also added to the delay. “The slow pace of work is mainly because of rain. A large portion of the flyover is being constructed over an open drain. Whenever it rains, work comes to a halt, as rainwater along with filth, gets accumulated in the drain and the machinery has to be removed from there,” said Bhagyalakshmi who stays near the construction site.

Constant noise

Residents are also sore over the constant noise created by the machinery. Though the work is usually done during the day, some times it continues even in the night and people have no option but to tolerate it.

However, former corporator of ward number 41, M Lakshminarayan, blamed on lack of co-ordination between the Palike officials and the contractors for the mess. “The Palike is not clearing bills on time and the engineers responsible for designing the flyover are not giving the plan on time to contractors. This has delayed the entire process,” he said.