-lane RUB work begins

-lane RUB work begins

Traffic hurdle at Benniganahalli may be cleared in 18 months

Bosky Khanna. Bangalore



Motorists commuting on the Old Madras road through Benniganahalli have reason to cheer as the work on widening the road under bridge (RUB) began on Monday.
The South Western Railways (SWR) and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) launched the work for constructing a six-lane road under bridge at Benniganahalli on the outskirts of the city. The project will take 18 months for completion.
Union minister of state for railways R Velu, who inaugurated the works, instructed SWR and NHAI officials to complete the project within the stipulated time. He said the Centre would allocate additional funds, if required.
The RUB, coming under the Bangalore-Salem railway line, would be funded by NHAI. It is estimated to cost Rs 7.5 crore.
State-of-the-art European technology called `box pushing technique' would be used to construct the RUB, SWR's chief administrative officer Vijay Kumar said.
This technique is being used in India for the past 10 to 12 years. It is similar to Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike's magic box technology, where pre-cast elements are used. The only difference is that in this case, the pre-case elements, instead of being cut and erected, will be pushed through below the bridge. This will ensure that the bridge does not get weak in the long run. This technique will also help in speeding up the work.
"Our main aim is to ease bottlenecks at this two-lane stretch and make commuting easy. Clearance for the project was given by NHAI four months ago," he said.
On the state government's proposal to introduce Tumkur-Chitradurga-Davangere and Bagalkot-Kodachi rail links, Velu said, ``We will consider the proposals. The Centre will take a serious look into the project details and consider approving them at the earliest. We have allocated Rs1,200 crore to the state for all the ongoing and upcoming projects.''
He said the Bijapur-Guntakal-Solapur rail route would also be completed shortly.
Union minister of state for road transport and highways KH Muniyappa said the Centre was also thinking of converting the existing four-lane Bangalore-Chennai highway into a six-lane.
A detailed report is being prepared. The proposal has been formulated after considering the rise in the number of road commuters using this stretch.
Rajya Sabha deputy chairman K Rehman Khan requested the union ministers to consider the proposal of introducing hourly trains between Bangalore andTumkur and Ramanagara and Tumkur