BBMP wants Electronics City under its jurisdiction.It should instead introspect
On Tuesday BBMP passed a resolution to bring Electronics City under its administrative ambit,without a care for its existing workload or its abilities.The civic body which had barely 100 wards under it has devoured more area in the last five years and now has 198 wards.Seven CMCs and 110 villages it took charge of in 2007,when the existing BMP became Bruhat,are still woefully lacking in the basic trio of amenities roads,water and drainage system,as a majority of the area is still under-developed.That it has bitten off more than it can chew was highlighted when the High Court commented that the BBMP did not know how to manage the increasing number of wards that it insists on having under its ambit.Since the city fathers do not seem to be taking stock of the situation,BANGALORE MIRROR decided to look at five major BBMPs infrastructure projects which seem to go on and on.
THE PAPER PROJECTS
It has been 13 years since the idea of an elevated expressway from Minerva Circle to Town Hall was first mooted,but not a stone has been moved on the ground.This despite the project featuring in state budgets from the time of SM Krishna to BS Yeddyurappa. The flyover at Rani Chenamma Circle has been in the pipeline for the last five years.Tenders were called in May this year,but it remains to be seen when the project will actually take off. Parking space is the bane of the city,but the civic body is yet to tackle the problem.Former CM Sadananda Gowda announced 20 multi-level parking lots would be built,but thats still on paper. The 8-lane corridor from Okalipuram Rajajinagar to Khodays Circle was pegged at Rs 115 crore and finally approved by the state cabinet last year.But the project is yet to take shape.
MARKET UNDERPASS
On Tuesday BBMP passed a resolution to bring Electronics City under its administrative ambit,without a care for its existing workload or its abilities.The civic body which had barely 100 wards under it has devoured more area in the last five years and now has 198 wards.Seven CMCs and 110 villages it took charge of in 2007,when the existing BMP became Bruhat,are still woefully lacking in the basic trio of amenities roads,water and drainage system,as a majority of the area is still under-developed.That it has bitten off more than it can chew was highlighted when the High Court commented that the BBMP did not know how to manage the increasing number of wards that it insists on having under its ambit.Since the city fathers do not seem to be taking stock of the situation,BANGALORE MIRROR decided to look at five major BBMPs infrastructure projects which seem to go on and on.
THE PAPER PROJECTS
It has been 13 years since the idea of an elevated expressway from Minerva Circle to Town Hall was first mooted,but not a stone has been moved on the ground.This despite the project featuring in state budgets from the time of SM Krishna to BS Yeddyurappa. The flyover at Rani Chenamma Circle has been in the pipeline for the last five years.Tenders were called in May this year,but it remains to be seen when the project will actually take off. Parking space is the bane of the city,but the civic body is yet to tackle the problem.Former CM Sadananda Gowda announced 20 multi-level parking lots would be built,but thats still on paper. The 8-lane corridor from Okalipuram Rajajinagar to Khodays Circle was pegged at Rs 115 crore and finally approved by the state cabinet last year.But the project is yet to take shape.
MARKET UNDERPASS
Easily the longest running project,the underpass was meant to ease the woes of thousands of pedestrians who traverse the stretch under the KR Market (Sirsi) flyover.It was also meant to streamline the flow of traffic.More than half a decade on,the project seems nowhere near completion.What's more,motorists and pedestrians have had to put up with gaping trenches,piles of mud,potholes discarded concrete and what not.The only real progress the project has made is on paper: It was moved from the projects central department to the major works department.But going by the pace work on the ground,it is anybody's guess when it would be finally completed.
- Launched in: Aug 2006
- Original deadline : Feb 2008
- Estimated cost: Rs 5.8 crore
BRIDGE OVER Storm Water Drain AT GALI ANJANEYA TEMPLE
Every time there is a downpour,Gali Anjaneya is sure to be flooded with filthy water from the storm water drain which runs parallel to the temple premises.The BBMP had promised to build a bridge over the drain,but for the temple authorities and the thousands of devotees,this has only remained a pipedream.The project was stalled after the contractor and the BBMP locked horns over who would desilt the drain.
- Launched in: May 2006
- Original deadline : Feb 2008
- Estimated cost: Rs 20.83 crore
SANKEY TANK ROAD WIDENING
The stink that this project raised redefined the rising animosity between residents and the civic body.Residents refused to allow trees on the stretch to be axed and several courted arrest.Public meetings turned into acrimonious affairs so much so that work on the project is yet to commence.
- Launched in: Aug 2011
- Original deadline : Aug 2012
- Estimated cost: Rs 33.2 crore
CNR RAO CIRCLE UNDERPASS
This was a JNNURM project and was to be executed along with six other underpasses -- Nagavara Ring Road,Kadirenahalli Ring Road,Puttenahalli,Basappa Circle and Hennur-Banaswadi.The underpass was to connect Malleswaram and Mekhri Circle to Yeshwanthpur,but it came under heavy criticism from residents - including CNR Rao himself - thanks to the destruction of green cover which it entailed.Mayor Venkatesh Murthy claims that the project,which is just 60 per cent complete,will not be ready for public use until December.
- Launched in: Jan 2010
- Original deadline : Dec 2010
- Estimated cost: Rs 30.14 crore
KADIRENAHALLI UNDERPASS
The project was delayed after the civic body fought a legal battle with residents over land acquisition.Construction work has caused partial closure of the Outer Ring Road at Kadirenahalli Cross for years and waterlines were hit.This project was the bugbear of residents of Banashankari.
- Launched in: May 2008
- Original deadline : Mar 2009
- Estimated cost: Rs 28 crore
MYSORE ROAD
The four-phase project was scaled down to two phases after BMRCL began work on the Metro at Nayandahalli junction.It envisioned building a six-lane road from Sirsi Circle,but the project was fraught with hurdles from the start,one of which related to acquiring land from the Muslim and Christian burial grounds.Then came the delay in utilities shifting with the BESCOM and BWSSB both dragging their feet.Now,after nearly four years,the project is yet to be completed by the contractor who pleads helplessness due to rising costs.
PATCH-UP JOB
Stung by criticism that it could not fill a pothole right in front of its headquarters at Hudson Circle (God save Electronics City! BBMP services all set to spread there,BM,August 1),the BBMP swung into action and promptly got the stretch between Nrupathunga Road and Vokkaligara Bhavan asphalted.The work had been pending for the past two months,despite BBMP commissioner M K Shankarlinge Gowda ordering his engineering officers to expedite the work.
- Launched in: July 2009
- Original deadline : Jan 2011
- Estimated cost: Rs 11 crore
PATCH-UP JOB
Stung by criticism that it could not fill a pothole right in front of its headquarters at Hudson Circle (God save Electronics City! BBMP services all set to spread there,BM,August 1),the BBMP swung into action and promptly got the stretch between Nrupathunga Road and Vokkaligara Bhavan asphalted.The work had been pending for the past two months,despite BBMP commissioner M K Shankarlinge Gowda ordering his engineering officers to expedite the work.
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