BDA to choose partner soon to complete the loop

BDA to choose partner soon to complete the loop


N R MadhusudhanFirst Published : 12 Oct 2009 04:38:00 AM ISTLast Updated : 12 Oct 2009 06:56:32 AM IST
BANGALORE: Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has finally decided to choose a private partner to complete the construction of the remaining part of the peripheral ring road, within a month.
The road will be laid on a public private partnership basis and ten big construction companies including Soma Constructions, L&T, Nagarjuna Constructions, Reliance, Madhucon and GMR Group of Constructions had submitted the request for qualification to get the partnership to lay the remaining part of the road.
The requests will be processed by a four-member technical committee headed by the Engineer Member of the BDA. Dr C S Vishwanath and Prof B R Srinivasa Murthy of the Indian Institute of Science have been nominated for the panel and the third person will be nominated in the near future.
The panel will select a partner after assessing the technical competence and the potential of the firm.
According to BDA sources, the selection process will be completed in a month. The selected partner will lay the road on Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis.
Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) has finished construction of the peripheral ring road from Hosur Road to Tumkur Road. BDA, along with the new partner, will connect Hosur Road to Tumkur Road from the other side (Sarjapura and KR Puram side).
With the completion of this project, the entire peripheral ring road will be over.
BDA officials said that the road connecting Hosur Road with Tumkur Road will be 65 km long and 100 feet wide.
Around 7.5 metres of the road adjacent to the median, on both the sides, will be reserved for BMTC buses and the remaining 15 metres of the road on both the sides will be open for vehicular traffic. This move is expected to help the BMTC buses to move faster and to reduce accidents.
Provision to construct truck terminals, BMTC bus terminals and other amenities will be provided at appropriate places by the side of the road. Both sides of the road will be fenced and service roads will be laid on both sides. Underpasses will be constructed at every 500 metres to enable the public and vehicles to cross the road. An official said, “An user fee will be charged and it will be much lesser than what NICE is collecting on the other half of the peripheral ring road.” The road will pass through 67 villages in Dasanapura, Yeshwantpura, Hesaraghatta, Yelahanka, Jala, KR Puram, Bidarahalli, Varthur, Sarjapura and Attibele hoblis. The project cost was estimated at Rs 3,000 crore when the government had directed BDA to lay the road on April 23, 2007. Now it is expected to cost around Rs 3,300 crore.