Mysore Road stretch spruced up

Mysore Road stretch spruced up
With development work on state highways getting a fillip, the Bangalore-Maddur stretch of 62 km along the highway to Mysore has been developed, says Leena Mudbidri


Driving down to Mysore from Bangalore along the old State Highway No 17 promises to be a pleasure with the dusty two-lane carriageway having been transformed into a smooth four-lane one. At the Special Executive Committee meeting chaired by the governor of Karnataka a few weeks ago, development works on all major highways in the State have been earmarked.
The four-laning works of the 62-km stretch till Maddur of the Bangalore-Mysore Road was undertaken under the public-private partnership (PPP) module with the Government of Karnataka (GoK), Public Works Department (PWD), the Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) and Brindavan Infrastructure Company Limited (BICL). The GoK, PWD and KRDCL awarded the project to BICL on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis after a competitive bidding. The development work was completed in a record 21 months as against the stipulated 24 months. The road conforms to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Indian Road Congress (IRC) norms.
Street facilities
The entire stretch from Bangalore to Maddur is appointed with state-of-the-art street furniture which are installed and maintained by the BICL as stipulated by BOT terms. The road is lined with medians sporting colourful all-season flowering plants, and streetlights on either side. Modern machinery such as the bobcat machine, rear rollers, water tankers, graders and JCBs have been put into action to maintain and clean the road.