Sur-facelift for City roads

Sur-facelift for City roads
By Satish Shile
The recent heavy rains gave sleepless nights for residents of many in low-lying areas and nightmarish experience for vehicle riders. However, BBMPs efforts to improve road network before the the monsoon has helped the public.



The Palike took up improvement of 47 major roads in the city and could complete work on 25 of them before the monsoon set in. The road improvement work which began in February is expected to be completed by June end.
Some of the roads upgraded are: part of Tumkur Road, Malleshwaram 11th main road, Part of BEL Road, Guttahalli main road, Sankey Road, Kanakapura main road, Jayanagara 4th main road, Yediyur Road, Koramangala I main road, Sultanpalya main road and Victoria road. BBMP commissioner S Subramanya had given the deadline as May end. However the works could not be completed. Chief Engineer (Major Roads) K S Krishna Reddy said “Works on all roads would have been completed by this time. Because of rains we could not take up works for a four-five days”.

The Palike identified roads for upgradation considering their present condition, vehicular movement, the time gap since the roads have been laid.

“Once the rains begin condition of roads turns worse. The Palike identified the roads which were in bad condition earlier in the year and sent a proposal to the state government for its approval. Following approved the Palike awarded contract and the work is nearing completion”, said Sharief, Technical Advisor of Major Roads division (BBMP).

Defect liability

Upgradation of roads include construction of drains wherever necessary, side walks and asphaltation. As per the design of the work the upgraded road will have life of five years, including defect liability period of one year.
One year after the completion of the work is considered as defect liability period. During that period it is the duty of the contractors to address defects in the work taken by them.

“It is like giving one-year warranty for any article purchased in retail market. Before awarding contract the Palike takes 7.5 per cent of the total cost of the project as fixed security deposit from contractors. The amount will be refunded only after one year. The contractor has to obtain clearance certificate from the concerned engineer to claim his deposit,” Krishna Reddy, BBMP Chief Engineer (Major Roads) said.

The officer said there is a provision to extend the warranty period to two years. “For works of improving MG Road and roads in Koramangala area taken up under JNNURM the Palike has allotted two years of defect liability period”, he said.

Contractors have to maintain quality of work as per norms of the Indian Road Congress. Palike engineers keep checking the quality of bitumen used in asphaltation. These days contractors use modern equipment to pave the bitumen. The modern equipment helps in improving bonding of particles and increase the strength, Krishna Reddy added.

MILESTONES

* 47 roads being upgraded
* Work on 25 roads completed
* Estimated cost: Rs 44.03 crore
* Progress: Work on 20 roads nearing completion
* Contractors to maintain roads one year after completion