Commuters can now heave a sigh of relief as work on 29 of 32 roads chosen to be developed as per TenderSURE norms is complete, and work on the remaining roads will be completed in 45 days or first week of March, if the Bengaluru Smart City Ltd. (BSCL) is to be believed.
Most roads in the Central Business District have been taken up for development under various schemes. The outbreak of the pandemic and consequent lockdowns have had an impact on completion of these projects.
The TenderSURE development of 32 roads measuring around 59 km is being executed by BSCL at a cost of ₹435 crore. The work on three major roads – Avenue Road, Miller’s Road, and HKP Road – is in various stages of completion.
“On all the three roads, the water and underground drainage pipelines are in the middle of the carriageway. Now, new pipelines are being provided on either side of the road by the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB),” said P. Rajendra Cholan, Managing Director, BSCL.
He added that the old pipelines were at least 40 years old, which ran around six feet below the road surface. “Once the connections are given to the new pipelines, the old ones will be made defunct. If not, there is the risk of leakage and damage to the developed road,” he said.
Progress on remaining roads
Of the three roads, work on Miller’s Road is progressing at good speed. At Avenue Road, the work on the carriageway has been completed and footpath work will be taken up soon. “There were some leakage issues with the sewage and water pipelines. The leaks in the sewage lines have been sorted and water pipelines will be completed soon,” Mr. Cholan said, and added that there were some issues in the last 30 metres of HKP Road. “We are working on speedy resolution of the issues and completing the work soon,” he added.
In the three major roads where work is in progress, the carriageway is open for vehicular movement. This will be levelled and laid once the pipeline work is completed by the BWSSB, he stated.
The tender for the project was finalised in March 2019 and work order was issued in April-May 2019. However, getting police permission and finalising the design took over six months. By December 2020, only 7% of the work had been completed, he claimed, and added: “The pace of work improved a lot last year, following better inter-departmental coordination.”
The first phase, comprising nine roads, was inaugurated in March 2021. Some of the roads where work has been completed include Raj Bhavan Road, Race Course Road, Planetarium Road, Queen’s Road, Cantonment Road, Lavelle Road, Bowring Hospital Road. Minor works, such as lane marking, installation of signages and planting saplings, are pending on St. John’s Road and Commercial Street.
Mr. Cholan said the newly developed roads had utility ducts with separate chambers for water and sewage lines every 15 metres, for storm water every 75 metres, and for other utilities every 75 metres.
Citizens’ feedback
With the work on 29 roads now complete, BSCL will soon start discussions and consultations with the local residents’ welfare associations and elected representatives. Mr. Cholan said the residents and elected representatives would be invited to check the work and give feedback. “The roads will be under BSCL for maintenance for a period of three years. Any corrections or improvements can be taken up based on the citizens’ feedback,” he added.
