Kadirenahalli Underpass all set for launch

On your way to airport Board the green buses

BMTC Says Colour Coding Helps People Identify The Correct Routes
 

Want to have a cheaper ride Hop on to the orange bus.Heading to the suburbs Then it's bottle green bus.Going to airport Take the green bus.

In a months time,BMTC will operate an all-green fleet of Vayu Vajras to the airport.Presently,its a mix of red and green buses.

Sticking to a particular colour makes it easy for people to understand that green buses are the ones which go to the airport.Also,these buses are environment friendly,therefore the green paint, said CS Anand,chief mechanical engineer (production and transport planning),BMTC.

BMTC has a colour code in place for its fleet of 6,250 buses.Though the choice of the colour is random for most routes,we tend to make it more specific in certain places, said Anand.

While the Big 10 buses come decked with a rectangular and zebra marking in light green and yellow with black stripe,there are the crimson red buses with graphics that run on all city routes.

Then there are the blue JNNURM buses,non air-conditioned but comfortable.The orange and green colour band Atal Sarige buses,with less fare,cater mostly to the lower middle class commuters.

There is a concept of branding wherein we associate specific services with buses running in that route.We mostly go for attractive colours,and consider uppermost the route on which the vehicles run, said Anand.

COLOUR CODE SIMPLIFIED

Vayu Vajra:

all green fleet in another month's time.Service is available round-the-clock,providing seamless connectivity between important areas of the city and the airport.

Vajra:

Hard to miss,as the red,orange and blue buses operate in almost all localities,including arterial and Ring Roads of Bangalore.

BIG10:

A combination of green and bottle green,BIG10 buses operate in 12 major corridors,connecting mostly the surrounding suburbs in the city - Hosur Road,Bannerghatta Road,Sarjapur Road,Kanakapura Road,Mysore Road etc.

Pushpak and Pushpak Plus:

Ivory and raw-silk arrow on the bus's body with the whole body being sand colour

Pushpak Eco Plus:

Mostly white and green buses

READ THE COLOUR: In a months time,BMTC plans to operate an all-green fleet of Vayu Vajras to the airport.Its a mix of red and green buses at present

BLORE COULD GET SUBURBAN RAIL TOO

 COMMUTERS CHEER: Bangaloreans Can Envisage Local Train Links In Future 

NEW LINKS: The Suburban Commuter Rail System project has been envisioned for 2027 

Colour Code Will Make Ride On BMTC Buses A Breeze
 

The city could well be going the Mumbai way.In a first step to revive suburban trains for better connectivity into the city,Rail Indian Technical and Economic Services (RITES ) will ready the feasibility study by June first week.The Suburban Commuter Rail System will connect nearby highdensity locations like Ramanagaram,Mandya,Chikkaballapur and Hosur to the city.
RITES is ready to hand over the feasibility study to the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT).Its feasibility study will be completed by Mayend and submitted anytime now.Once this is read and understood,stakeholders can meet to take the project forward, V Manjula,commissioner,DULT told Media.
Sources in the urban land transport department told Media the study will look into the infrastructure available with the railways,what more needs to be created for commuter routes and cost.
The project is envisioned for 2027 and ground surveys and studies whether Karnataka needs such a system to connect to its capital city were done by 2006-07.But South Western Railway demanded a second study on proposed routes to understand the need of commuters,based on which a detailed project report could be worked upon.
Manjula said in the present system,only a skeletal service is operating and to enhance better commuter rail services,the number of services has to be improved.She also said the Suburban Commuter Rail System will look into these aspects.Sources also said RITES is looking at four major routes which will not clash with the Metro rail but provide connectivity to Metro stations.
For example,if a person is travelling from Ramanagaram to Kengeri,he should be able to travel within the city by accessing the Kengeri Metro station,planned in Phase 2 or even access the Mysore Road terminal of Phase 1 which will be ready by mid-2014.

TIMES VIEW

For commuters desperate for any transport solution which makes life a little easier,the suburban rail system is welcome.Many experts have been pushing for better use of the old rail network which has fallen into disuse.This is an opportunity for the railways to ferry the increasing number of people from outlying areas to the city centre and cash in the sheer scale of the operation.It also taps the advantage of interlinking suburbs by bypassing central hubs.

THE PROJECT

The system is to provide railway connectivity from suburban areas to urban locations,like the ones operating in Mumbai,Kolkata and Hyderabad.The travel time of one hour by rail,which is generally a distance of 40-60 km radial from the city,is looked for developing such a system.All these trains moving in these routes will also come towards Bangalore City railway station but not halt here.Sources in DULT told Media the trains could be moving in directions along inter-changeable routes like a train from Ramanagaram to Kengeri can also head up to Yeswanthpur and travel towards the Yelahanka-Doddaballapur line too.

Railway Overbridge to speed up Tumkur Road- Bellary Road commute

DOUBLE DOSE:Traffic jams on the stretch connecting Tumkur Road and BEL and Hebbal in Bangalore, are very common, thanks to two sets of railway gates.— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Those forced to wait for long at the Jalahalli railway level crossing, one of the busiest in the city both for movement of trains as well as road traffic, may find their ordeal somewhat assuaged a year from now. There are two railway lines here, and consequently, two sets of railway gates.

To get around this bottleneck, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and the South Western Railway (SWR) plan to construct a road overbridge (ROB) to link the stretches of the Outer Ring Road (ORR) dissected by the Bangalore-Tumkur Railway line and a loop railway line.

Sources told The Hindu that they expect work on the Rs. 28-crore project to be completed in a year. This 1.1-km structure will have two carriageways of 5.5 m each.


The ORR, connecting Tumkur Road and Bellary Road passes through defence (Air Force) property just after Tumkur Road before it crosses the railway lines and thence to Jalahalli village and BEL Circle before joining Bellary Road.

Daily ordeal

It is a daily ordeal for those commuting on this stretch of the ORR. K. Nagaraj Karanth, a software engineer who lives in Nagarabhavi, says he is forced to wait at least 15-20 minutes at the level crossing every day to his workplace near Hebbal and back.

While it is a smooth drive from Nagarabhavi till Goraguntepalya Junction on the ORR, a distance of about 7 km, driving the next one km is a nightmare. These days he has started to use the HMT Link Road.

The stretch between Goraguntepalya and Jalahalli sees heavy movement of lorries as it is the only road connecting Tumkur Road, Bellary Road and Old Madras Road. Thousands of heavy vehicles ply on this road every day and the two-lane road as well as the railway crossing don't help, a traffic police constable posted nearby pointed out.

Belling the cat

The traffic police, which is stretched regulating traffic, is now concerned with traffic diversions to facilitate the ROB construction. While alternatives are being examined, including allowing traffic on HMT Link Road or via Yeshwanthpur and C.N.R. Rao Circle, it feels these roads may not be able to cope with lorry traffic.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic-North), R.N. Nataraj told The Hindu that the only viable alternative is the vacant defence land just next to the railway tracks on the ORR. The authorities concerned, BDA, SWR and Traffic Police, have requested the Defence authorities to provide the land temporarily for traffic diversion, he said.

While the ROB on HMT Link Road cannot take lorry traffic, the incomplete grade separator at C.N.R. Rao Circle may impede diversion via Yeshwanthpur, Mr. Nataraj said.

Extravagant plans ground airport traffic

Bellary Road has become a dangerous obstacle course

Work on the elevated expressway on National Highway 7 in Bangalore has slowed down traffic near Kodigehalli on Bellary Road.

Even as the city chokes with bottlenecks and contends with potholes made worse by the monsoon, more extravagant plans are being drawn up for the much-gilded new airport road.

This time, a 20-km stretch of the National Highway 7 between the Hebbal flyover and the Bengaluru International Airport, is being widened — for the second time — at a cost of Rs. 600 crore to create a service lane and also accommodate a proposed Rs. 6,900 crore High-Speed Rail Link (HSRL) to the airport. Work on the 34-km HSRL will be taken up by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. to connect BIA to the city centre in 25 minutes.

Deadline flouted

By 2014, when these parallel projects on the new airport road are completed, they would have gobbled up around Rs. 10,000 crore.

This includes the Rs. 680-crore elevated expressway being constructed between Hebbal and the international airport that has thrown traffic out of gear for several months now.

A.K. Mathur, Chief General Manager, National Highway Authority of India, Karnataka and Goa, said the 22-km expressway will most likely not meet its deadline of May 2013 because of the lack of funds and hurdles in acquiring land.

“The disruption of toll collection has hit the project. There have been problems in acquiring land from temples on the road,” he told 

Supreme irony
The irony, however, is that these projects, which are meant to speedily ferry people to the airport, have all but grounded traffic on the road with abysmal lack of planning. The road, which will one day accommodate multiple lanes and levels of traffic, is barely two lanes at several stretches, including at the Sahakarnagar Junction and at the Gandhi Krishi Vignan Kendra.

The stretch is a veritable obstacle course with motorists having to navigate diversions, get past bottlenecks and manoeuvre over drainage slabs that are good six to eight inches higher than the asphalt. The monsoon, no doubt is going to only make matters worse.

Mantri Swastik Metro Station

 

Nayandhalli ORR two level flyover in progress

‘Fuel crisis’ hits work on road to BIA

IOC holds up diesel supply for non-payment of bills

A hassle-free drive to Bengaluru International Airport ( BIA) would take more time to be a reality as the work on upgrading the 22-km stretch on National Highway 7 has come to a abrupt halt.

The Indian Oil Corporation has stopped supply of diesel to Navayuga Engineering Company Limited, the implementing agency, for non-payment of bills.

According to a field officer of the IOC, there had been no supply of fuel for 15 days and hence the construction work has come to a halt at many points on the corridor. Diesel is essential for tar plant and concrete mixers, apart from vehicles at the construction site.
 
Sources in the National Highway Authority of India said the project requires at least 5,000 litre of diesel a day.

The upgrading project involves construction of an elevated road, flyovers, underpasses and service roads.

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has awarded the contract to Navayuga on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis.

A reality check by Deccan Herald revealed that barring patch works at a few points, there was no work on most parts of the stretch.

A traffic policeman at Kodigehalli Cross said vehicles had stopped coming to the work site and there was hardly any work going on for the past two weeks.

Shankar, Project Manager, Navayuga, said there were some issues with the IOC, which will be sorted out in two to three days. He said the company had not stopped the work, and even if there was a delay, they would make it up in the coming months and meet the deadline.

However, sources in the NHAI said Navayuga has delayed payments to sub-contractors. As a result, contractors are not employing workers.

The multi-crore project has been facing several problems since its launch in September 2010, including disputes over land acquisition at Byatarayanapura, Jakkur, Vidya Nagar Cross along Bellary Road and the recent controversy over toll collection near the trumpet interchange of BIA. The matter is pending before court.

The initial deadline for the project was early 2013, and the NHAI officials say they are expecting to complete the project by May 2013. However, it may take many more months considering the tardy work.

Second runway to be ready by 2016

Promising fliers that Bangalore International Airport (BIA) will provide adequate infrastructure to match the best airports in the world, officials have said the second runway project is scheduled to be ready by 2016.
 

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function here on Tuesday, B Bhaskar, Director of Finance in  BIAL, said feasibility studies are currently underway for the second runway. “With the expansion of the Airport, it is imperative that a second runway will be required. A single runway will not suffice for the
anticipated increase in air traffic,” said Bhaskar.
 

According to BIAL authorities, airline traffic is estimated to increase from the current 10.6 million passengers annually to approximately 17 million passengers by 2015. On the issue of the terminal expansion, Bhaskar said the BIAL is confident of completing the project in the first quarter of 2013. The BIA terminal will be expanded to 1,070 sq metres, which will be double the current size. “We will be giving equal space for both domestic and international flights,” said Bhaskar.

To be completed within 18 months from the commencement of its construction, the Terminal 1 extension project is expected to sport an enhanced and modern design elevation. The project has been designed by global architectural firm HOK. The construction partners for the project will be selected through competitive bidding. The cost of this expansion is estimated to be around Rs 600 crore, according to BIAL

BIAL Expansion Progress

A flyover way above TWO FLYOVERS!

Will Go Over Windsor Manor Rail Bridge To CBI Junction

Perhaps nothing can beat this grandiose plan by the Bangalore Development Authority.The BDA has proposed a six-lane bi-directional flyover from Le Meridien to Cauvery junction,all the way up to CBI junction on Bellary Road.

Nothing very wrong,except that the BDAs proposal means the elevated flyover will have to be constructed over and above the Windsor Manor rail line bridge and two other flyovers en route! It will have to scythe through the cityscape at least 8m above the Windsor Manor bridge,according to railway norms which means it will stand 12.6m off the ground and be a rather elevated flyover.

Last week,the BDA floated a tender to construct a sixlane bi-directional flyover at a cost of Rs 210 crore,from Le Meridien to beyond Cauvery junction,and another one from the Air Force main gate to beyond Cauvery junction,passing Sanjaynagar and the CBI junction on Bellary Road.

The proposed six-lane flyover will overshadow the existing Windsor Manor railway bridge and the flyover before the BDA headquarters,thus creating a three-tier carriageway.

What appears incongruous is that the proposed 2.5km flyover is said to be planned to alleviate the congestion at Cauvery junction and Mehkri Circle junction.Its not only dangerous and not feasible,but is also bound to create chaos for commuters.

Abide member RK Misra said the project will connect the proposed signal-free corridor from Hosur Road to Bellary Road on NH-4.The budgeted project of the elevated highway from Hosur Road to Bellary Road includes the stretch from Le Meridien to CBI junction.But because the freshly tendered projects of BDA were those approved by the government long ago,the BDA can go ahead with these projects, said Misra.

In reality,the motorway upgrade will only add to confusion on this stretch,that already has an underpass on Palace Road,carrying traffic from northern parts of the city to the central business district.While BDA commissioner Bharatlal Meena said he would speak on the issue on Sunday,engineer member on the BDA board T N Chikkarayappa chose not to take any calls from TOI.

RLYS NOT KEPT IN THE LOOP

BDA has so far not contacted South Western Railways about the proposed project,though the flyover will go over the Windsor Manor railway track and bridge.

We have no clue about the project.Technically speaking,the project can be made feasible only if it travels over and above the railway track.It should be a minimum of 8.14 metres above the railway track,meaning 12.6 metres above ground level, said Haribabu V,senior divisional engineer,South Western Railways.

WHO DOES IT BENEFIT

Elevated corridor will help only those commuters heading towards Hebbal
Those travelling towards Malleswaram and Vasanthnagar will still have to take the regular road on the ground
There is an existing flyover for commuters moving towards Cauvery junction

PROPOSED PROJECTS IN STATE BUDGET 2012-13
NH-7 to NH-7 Corridor:

Starts from Central Silk Board and ends at Hebbal flyover.This elevated corridor travels via High Grounds,Le Meridien,Cauvery junction,Mehkri Circle and CBI junction on Bellary Road,where BDA has now proposed to construct two flyovers


NH-4 to NH-4 Corridor:

Starts from Benniganahalli (near KR Puram) and ends at Yeshwantpur


East-West Corridor:

Starts from Varthur Kodi and ends at Rajarajeshwarinagar and Jnanabharathi Gate


NH-7 to NH-4 Airport Access Corridor:

Starts from Chandapur Circle via Dommasandra,Varthur,Whitefield and ends at NH-4 near Hoskote Kodi

Metro work starts at Soap Factory

Work on the disputed land needed for the construction of the Metro station near Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL), popularly known as Soap Factory, on Reach-3 commenced on Wednesday. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation authorities started demolition work on the land which is said to be owned by G.M. Babu. It has been alleged that the BMRCL did not pay land compensation to Mr Babu before starting demolition work.

Mr Babu had filed a writ appeal before the High Court challenging the acquisition of land for the Metro station. The appeal was dismissed on April 18, 2012 with an order to maintain status quo for three weeks at the instance of the appellant, to enable him to file a petition before the Supreme Court. It is said that Mr Babu filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court that was heard on May 8. The SLP was dismissed as withdrawn, permitting the petitioner to file an application for modification before the High Court and with a direction to consider it if such an interlocutory application (IA) is filed.

With this directive of the Supreme Court, the BMRCL commenced demolition works. The three weeks status quo as directed by the High Court got over on May 9. Sudarshan, son of Mr. Babu said that no compensation had been paid by the BMRCL. “Land acquisition work was started by the BMRCL and more than 80 per cent of our property was demolished. The work is being carried out aggressively by BMRCL and if we intervene to inquire about compensation, the organization asks us to talk to the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board. In fact, the BMRCL is yet to register the property in their name,” said Sudarshan.

The disputed land has two building locateds opposite each other and a garage in the middle. The total area of the property is 1 acre out of which the BMRCL will acquire 991 square meters. It has been stated by BMRCL officials that the area will be utilized for DG sets and emergency staircase, etc.

“The Metro could have taken waste government land in the vicinity. Just because they want to cater to people living in Brigade Gateway, they are building a metro station here,” adds Sudarshan.

Malleswaram-Peenya Reach May Be Ready By This Year-End

Namma Metro is slipping up on its deadlines : two court cases over land acquisition are holding up work on crucial sections of the northern line between Malleswaram and Hesaraghatta Cross.

Officials of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC ),which had plans to commence commercial operations on the sector by this year-end,said the cases have delayed work by at least 10 months.

The first case pertains to acquisition of a strip of land near the Karnataka Soap and Detergents Limited (popularly known as Soap Factory) to build a Metro station.There was relief for BMRC when the high court dismissed an appeal against land acquisition by the land owner,GM Babu.But the court also stayed its verdict for two weeks to enable the parties to move the apex court,and ordered status quo for three weeks from April 28.BMRC will begin land acquisition and ground work on the station from May 10,subject to any order from the Supreme Court.

Work has certainly been affected,but even if litigation continues,we should be able to complete civil works on the rest of the line.The progress of the viaduct construction in the northern line is going on at a good pace,except for the station at the soap factory, said a BMRC spokesperson.

Another legal hurdle is holding up work on a 500-metre viaduct of the northern line near Dasarahalli.The dispute here is between two government agencies: the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and BMRC.Metro's proposal to construct the viaduct on a piece of land already acquired by NHAI is at the root of this legal dispute.

Reach 3B is the third stretch of the northern line.We will be able to complete that within the given deadline.We are looking at the possibility of opening Reach 3 and 3A from Malleswaram to Peenya by the year-end, officials said.

The northern line of the first phase of Namma Metro has three stretches Reach 3,3A and 3B.BMRC has completed 91% of viaduct construction on Reach 3,and 60% civil works at stations.The viaduct construction of the 3A and 3B extensions are 91% and 58% complete,but work at six stations on the stretch is progressing at snails pace.

TROUBLE BREWS UNDERGROUND

Controversies are dogging Namma Metro's underground stretches too.The state government's delay in taking a call on shifting the Ambedkar statue in front of Vidhana Soudha,affecting work on one underground section,is only one part of the story.On the eastern side of the underground section,litigation involving BSNL and BMRC has delayed work at Minsk Square.Work is already behind schedule by over eight months.However,BMRC is preparing the ground at this end by removing the steel decking for the arrival of the two tunnel boring machines,Helen and Margarita.

GREEN LINE IS READY FOR TRIAL

Steel coaches sporting green borders are ready for trial runs on the northern line
Stationed at Peenya depot,these coaches will run on the North-South corridor,also called Green line
The first rake of the three coaches is being tested at Peenya depot
The East-West corridor is called the Purple line

BIA’s new terminal to have bigger lounge, check-in area

Bigger lounge and check-in area, 12 self check-in counters and six immigration and six emigration counters and six more baggage reclaim conveyor belts are some of the features the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) will add to its T1 Terminal, which is being expanded. Over 77,209 square metres will be added to the new terminal with 37 extra check-in counters, a VVIP building and smoking lounges.

The new infrastructure will be made available in phases, starting early 2013. In a statement on Monday, the Bangalore International Airport Limited said keeping in view the 24X7 operations of the terminal, work has been progressing at a steady pace without causing any disruptions to passengers. The construction work at the terminal is on either sides of the building with the wave-like roof structures and columns. To enable a seamless integration of the new terminal with the old, temporary protective walls on the sides of the terminal building are being constructed to remove the existing walls. The roof of the building is being extended to the sides as well as to the front.

Four temporary walkways have been constructed to provide access to the terminal during construction phase to provide a safe passage. “Adequate arrangements have been made to ensure passenger convenience by providing sufficient way finding signage and by deploying of additional staff to assist the passengers,” BIAL said.

NICE Bangergatta Road in Progress

The first green rake of the north-south corridor @ Peenya Depot

TBMs and Station work at Central College

Hebbal-Yelahanka Expressway Nearing Completion

Kadirenahalli underpass to open to traffic mid-May

At long last, the Kadirenahalli underpass may be thrown open to traffic from May 15. The underpass connects densely populated areas in Bangalore south, including Banashankari, Jayanagar, J.P. Nagar and Kumaraswamy Layout.

Construction, taken up in March 2008 at Rs. 28.72 crore, was to be completed in 10 months. Many deadlines later, the project is yet to be completed, causing the partial closure of Outer Ring Road at Kadirenahalli Cross for four years now.

HOST OF PROBLEMS

One of the project supervisors, who didn't want to be named, attributed the delays to problems in land acquisition. Rocks on the site didn't help matters either. Also, residents of the area did not cooperate for the construction of service roads. “All hurdles have now been cleared. We are sure of completing construction of service roads by this month-end.”

One side of the underpass is almost complete. However, the other stretch towards Padmanabhanagar is not yet ready. With the construction dragging on for years, residents use the site to empty their garbage, said an annoyed M. Venkata Ramanaswamy, a department store owner, adding that this has hit his business.

RESIDENTS' GROUSES

On their part, residents were very vocal about commuting difficulties and lack of water supply. One of them, Venkatesh, said waterlines were damaged when the rocks were blasted. “We had to walk quite a distance to get drinking water. Only recently was some alternative arrangement made,” he said.

Banashankari Temple Ward Councillor A.H. Basavaraju said he wrote to the former Mayor Sharadamma three months ago recommending action against BBMP's jurisdictional Executive Engineer and Assistant Executive Engineer for the inordinate delay in the underpass construction. “But no action was initiated against them. They have failed to pressure the contractors to complete the project,” he said.

CONTRACTOR FINED

Meanwhile, a senior BBMP official claimed that the service roads would be ready by this month-end, while the underpass will open to traffic on May 15. Blaming the contractor for the delay, the official said the BBMP had already levied a fine of Rs. 80 lakh on the agency.

“The contractor failed to plan and mobilise the necessary men and machinery to complete the underpass in time.” Asked why the BBMP did not blacklist the contractor despite recommendations by city in-charge Minister R. Ashok and former Mayors, the official said had it done so, it would have further stalled the project.

Metro underground work near Majestic gets nod

The Railway Ministry gave its nod to the  Bangalore Metro to take up underground work near Majestic, on Thursday. Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda who met Union Railway Minister  Mukul Roy here, told reporters that “The Railway minister has agreed to allow the works at Majestic (off Platform Road) and construction will resume soon.”

Earlier, the Railways had stalled the Metro underground construction work in some of the areas around Majestic and demanded the Bangalore Metro Railway Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to clear the balance amount for the land.

“The State government had given some amount to the Railways and will pay the balance amount soon,” Gowda said adding that a high-level committee in the State will decide the amount to be paid to
the Railways. 

He also said that Railway Board official will visit Bangalore to discuss with the State Platform Road, the BMRCL Metro underground work near Majestic gets nod needs land to construct a down-ramp for the North- South corridor; in Mahatma Gandhi Colony, the land is required to build an underground station.

While work progressed in Mahatma Gandhi Colony, there was a dispute over space at the other two locations.
Around 23,000 sq mt of railway land has been allotted to the BMRCL permanently in these areas, in addition to around 9,000 sq mt of temporary space, the chief minister added.

Abstract beauty of Garden City’s traffic islands

In its bid to beautify the city, the BBMP has decided to give a new look to six traffic islands. As part of the process, the BBMP has already installed sculptures at four places. On the same lines, sculptures will be installed at JDS Circle, near Gandhi Nagar, and Freedom Park within a month. The entire project will cost about `2 crore and has been taken up on a public-private partnership basis