Two-lane underpasses will work, says confident Meena

Two-lane underpasses will work, says confident Meena
Aarthi R | TNN

Bangalore: After magic boxes and pedestrian underpasses in a day, the latest offering is BBMP’s 79 new two-lane underpasses.
Estimated to cost Rs 2,500 crore, the project is part of the 12 signalfree corridors for the city. Each of these underpasses is expected to cost Rs 3.3 lakh. They will be 7.5 metres wide and constructed using the pre-cast segment technology. The first of these is expected to be at Okalipuram junction.
However, the proposal comes at a time of increasing concerns and questions about the necessity of grade separators. Are they really needed? If yes, why the contradicting opinions? A Q&A with BBMP commissioner Bharat Lal Meena:
Another 79 new underpasses when the ones already functional and even those proposed are being debated...
Well, it’s true. But those protesting fail to realize that it’s not just about tackling the present. Underpasses and flyovers that we are proposing are based on a long-term study. They may not be useful for those in the vicinity. It’s planned for people travelling across the city.
Yet another troubling factor about underpasses is the quality and time taken on construction. How do you plan to change these facets with the proposed underpasses? Can we be assured that they will be taken care of?
We will take care of quality. Third party quality control is being put in place. Strict monitoring will be done. This apart, we will also be monitoring the time taken on execution of work on all underpasses.
What about the long-pending ones at Puttenahalli and Kadrenahalli?
Work was almost halted here as we had problems with contractors. We were about to blacklist them. But now, it should speed up as we’ve got in new contractors.