ROB & RUB: BBMP awaits Railways’ green signal

ROB & RUB: BBMP awaits Railways’ green signal
Bangalore:

Even as the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) dreams of a smooth drive in the City with its proposed 37 railway over bridges (ROBs) and railway under bridges (RUBs), the Railways is reportedly shying away from showing the green signal.

These 37 projects were highlighted in this year’s BBMP budget. But these projects need the approval from the Railways, which usually takes a long time ranging from three to six months. In some cases, it can extend also. Among these 37 projects, three are in their final stage, said sources in the BBMP. The three projects are RUBs at Kengeri and Srirampura and an ROB at Allalasandra. “Due to the snail’s pace of Railways in commissioning the works, these three projects could not be executed,” said a source. According to the sources, the RUBs at Kengeri and Srirampura cost around Rs 11 crore and Rs four crore whereas, the project cost of the ROB at Allalasandra is Rs 30 crore.
Sources added that the local agencies pay half of the total cost of the project, whereas the remaining cost is borne by the Railways. However, it is the Railways which can give nod to the project, its designs and alignment.

Final stage

The BBMP claimed that the files related to three projects at Kengeri, Allalasandra and Srirampura are in their final stages.

“Two files related to Kengeri and Allalasandra railway bridges have gone to the General Administration Department for general alignment and approval whereas the Railways has approved the Srirampura project,” said the sources.

They added that, of the Rs four crore project cost, the State will bear Rs two crore and the rest by the Railways. It is the Railways which undertakes the project, while the civic agency has to pay its share to the Railways to get the work done.

Sources said the BBMP had paid Rs 1.5 crore in two installments to the Railways for the Srirampura RUB project around six months back but so far there has been no progress in the work. In this regard, when South Western Railway DRM Akhil Agrawal was contacted, he said there were no formal proposals on these 37 ROB and RUBs from the BBMP.
The top Railway officer said any ROB or RUB over a single line costs somewhere around Rs one crore, that is with the standard height of 3.5 metres.