Underpass work begins, triggers chaos

Underpass work begins, triggers chaos
Bangalore, dhns:
Chaos and confusion reigned on the roads in Sadashivanagar traffic police limits on Wednesday, even as BBMP kickstarted its work on the underpass at Cauvery theatre junction using pre-cast box structures.

Though the BBMP had gone to town on how it would finish building the underpass in 72 hours flat, the traffic police had not done much to enlighten the public on the alternate routes to be taken during the period.

Consequently, as the morning dawned, vehicles moving on Sankey Road were confronted with barriers at Bhashyam Circle on one end and the Cauvery theatre circle on the other end. Vehicles piled up at both ends with drivers taking time to figure out which way to head.

There was a bumper-to-bumper crawl on all roads adjoining Sankey Road. Areas in and around Vyalikaval police station, Vinayaka Circle, Palace Guttahalli (especially near the Jataka stand) and the BDA junction were jammed.
As hours passed, a sense of clarity appeared on the roads. While some vehicle users bound towards the BDA junction from Bhashyam Circle took the designated route through Vyalikaval police station-Vinayaka Circle, several others headed towards Mekhri Circle by entering the roads of Sadashivanagar to move towards Munireddypalya, Jayamahal and Shivajinagar.

The traffic police deployed additional manpower to tackle the situation. However, their task was made further onerous in the morning peak hours as a heavy-duty milk truck got stuck at the Cauvery theatre junction while making way for the Governor’s convoy.

Seventy-two hours was all that it would take to complete the underpass, according to BBMP Technical Advisor Jaiprasad.

A precast factory-built unit will be erected at the site. The unit is buried into the earth at an appropriate depth. Then necessary approaches will be given to the underpass. In all, six such underpasses will be constructed by BBMP in the next few days.

Each underpass costs an average of Rs 1 crore. The actual cost depends on the site condition. For instance, an underpass at the Cauvery junction costs around Rs 1.45 crore, while the one at the BDA junction is over Rs 2 crore, BBMP Chief Engineer (Major roads) Krishna Reddy said.