The two-level BDA flyover at the junction of Mysore Road and Outer Ring Road (ORR) near Nayandahalli, which was to be ready by March this year, is yet to reach the half-way mark, a delay of the kind that has become synonymous with infrastructure projects in the city.
BDA has now promised to complete the flyover by December 2012.
Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, who inspected the project on Tuesday, directed the BDA to complete at least one section of the flyover, that links the ORR, by this month-end.
While the BDA is hopeful of completing the ramp for traffic from Magadi Road towards Banashankari by this month-end, the ramp for traffic from the opposite direction is likely to be completed by May-end.
Officials of the agencies linked to the project said that the BDA had no reason to drag on the project for three years.
A major hurdle, non-availability of land for service roads on ORR towards Banashankari, was cleared when the BDA recovered five acres and 27 guntas of land in Pantharapalya after demolishing several unauthorised buildings.
As of now, construction of the flyover arm for traffic from Magadi Road towards Banashankari on the ORR is progressing even as the construction of the other arm is yet to begin.
Similarly, only the pillars have come up for the ramps linking Mysore Road. Officials wondered what has been preventing the agency from expediting the work since pre-fabricated segment technology is being used.
BDA took up the construction work despite the plea by the traffic police to postpone it till Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) completed construction of the viaduct for Namma Metro. BMRCL has been working on the viaduct since the second half of 2010, which again is seeing slow progress.
People affected
As in every infrastructure project, road users are the victims. M.A. Niranjan, a resident of Nagarabhavi who works in a private firm near Banashankari, said, “It has been a double blow for us for nearly two years and we do not know when the BDA and BMRCL will complete the work. Till then, two-wheeler users like me are forced to inhale dust for at least five minutes at the Nayandahalli Junction.”
It is not just road users who are put to hardship. The traffic police manning the junction are the most affected as they have to inhale dust at least eight hours a day. “With many traffic constables getting respiratory problems, not many are willing to work at this junction. A traffic police inspector, who was badly affected, has gone on long leave,” said a constable manning the junction.
Sources in the construction industry suspected that the delay may be part of BDA's hidden agenda to allow cost escalation for questionable reasons. The project was estimated at Rs. 72 crore and was awarded for Rs. 87 crore.
BDA Commissioner Bharat Lal Meena told The Hindu that the ongoing Namma Metro work and litigation over land were the reasons for the delay. He dismissed suggestions that there were attempts to escalate the cost and said that the tender was awarded to the lowest bidder. The flyover will be completed by this December, he said.
