Many landmarks disappear as BMRCL intensifies work

Many landmarks disappear as BMRCL intensifies work

Staff Reporter
BANGALORE: With Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) intensifying demolition of buildings for the Namma Metro tracks, several landmarks and places on arterial roads that you could relate are vanishing fast.

Green canopy on K.R. Road and haphazardly built structures on Magadi Road have disappeared. Arterial roads — Magadi Road between Leprosy Hospital and Rajajinagar 6th Block, Mahakavi Kuvempu Road in Rajajinagar, Old Madras Road in Ulsoor, C.M.H. Road in Indiranagar, Krishna Rajendra Road in Visvesvarapuram and Mysore Road near Deepanjalinagar — wear a different look.

Having learnt lessons from delayed execution of viaduct construction on Reach 1, BMRCL has awarded contracts for other reaches and asked contractors to begin work at once. As a result, work on road widening is going on simultaneously on Magadi Road, Mahakavi Kuvempu Road, Mysore Road and K.R. Road. The Karnataka Land Army Corporation has been entrusted with the task of demolishing structures and widening roads on Reach 2 — Magadi Road to Mysore Road Terminal and Reach 3 — Swastik to Yeshwanthpur.

BMRC has invited fresh tenders for work on Reach 1 between the cricket stadium and Byappanahalli after it off-loaded contractor Navayuga Construction Company from the responsibility of casting 584 segments for a distance of 680 metres. This was done to complete construction of the viaduct on time as the contractor did not speed up work despite repeated reminders.

Work on laying foundation for the viaduct is in full swing between Trinity Circle and Ulsoor Police Station even as buildings have been demolished between the police station and Swami Vivekananda Road Cross. While foundation work is nearing completion on C.M.H. Road, piers have come up in full length at 69 locations on Mahatma Gandhi Road.

Construction of the viaduct on Reach 3 between Swastik and Yeshwanthpur (5.1 km) has been entrusted to IDEB-SUCG Consortium at a cost of Rs. 209 crore and the contractor has commenced piling work on the stretch. On Reach 4, viaduct construction work has been entrusted to Nagarjuna Construction Company at a cost of Rs. 150.63 crore.