Will Vittal Mallya Road get a facelift?

Will Vittal Mallya Road get a facelift?
UB Submits Interim Plan; BBMP To Decide On Earlier Proposal
Asha Rai | TNN

Bangalore: The pockmarked, potholed, open-drained High Street of Bangalore — Vittal Mallya Road — is finally set to get a facelift, provided the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) green lights a proposed plan.
The UB Group and Prestige Group, the joint venture partners in UB City, have written to BBMP stating they will asphalt the road, repair pavements, redress the open drain and lay a hume pipe to drain rainwater. UB Group on Monday proposed this as an interim measure even as BBMP takes a final call on its earlier proposal — a detailed plan for beautification and rejuvenation of the road. According to sources, the interim measures are likely to cost the UB Group about Rs 3 crore.
Once approval for its original scheme — which includes laying cobblestones through the street a la European high streets and putting benches for pedestrians, etc — comes through, it intends to spend upwards of Rs 10 crore.
BAD MAINTENANCE IS WHOSE FAULT?
The street has been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons: broken pavements, cratered road, stagnant pools of water, open drains, constant digging work. All this, in sharp contrast to the glamorous signages for global brands like Louis Vuitton, Tag Heuer and Tiffanys.
Last week, BBMP shot off a letter to the UB Group saying that unless it fixed the road pronto, it would cancel the name of the road as the original agreement required the group to maintain it when the name was changed. The name change was effected more than 15 years ago. Vittal Mallya, the founder of UB Group, lived and worked on the road which once housed his brewery. His son, current UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya, still lives in a bungalow off the road and where the brewery stood is the glittering UB City, a premium commercial-cum-retail space.
‘PALIKE NOT RESPONDING’
UB Group officials say they, through the Prestige Group, have been writing to BBMP for couple of years, seeking permission to refurbish/repair the road or for the BBMP to take necessary steps. They say they never got a reply from them. For long, repair was stuck because of heavy construction work at UB City.
THE BEAUTIFICATION PLAN
UB’s beautification proposal for creating a model road has been put together with the help of a local architectural firm and traffic experts. In addition to laying cobblestones, it involves making it pedestrian friendly with benches, smart electric poles, rainwater harvesting, etc. As it involves many government agencies like BWSSB, Bescom, and the telecom department in addition to BBMP, UB has routed this proposal to the government through ABIDe, a local infrastructure body. A presentation on the proposed facelift was made to Bangalore City Connect Foundation chaired by the additional chief secretary. No decision on implementation has been taken.
BBMP yet to receive communication
BBMP commissioner was unavailable for comment. However, BBMP additional commissioner (East) S Puttaswamy said no such proposal had come to his notice. “Anyway, we have given them 15 days time; 10 days still remain.’’